2015 is nearly over, so what better way to celebrate than to throw it a little going away party. For funsies and to make us all feel really old, I thought we could have a little trip back ten years to 2005 and remind ourselves of a few albums that were released that year.
I mean 2005 was a really different time, I mean look at me.. LOOK AT ME!
Anyways, the standard West Coast pop punk style had died down and the explosion of emo was becoming more than just a buzzword that confused parents because of their children’s questionable taste in clothes. It was becoming more than just a haircut and some skinny jeans, a scene was evolving in 2005 that birthed a lot of the bands we listen to today, some of them still touring, making great records and are even cementing themselves as legacies. More than that, 2005 was the year that narcissistic nerds had a certain self awareness in their music that made a pop punk-emo crossover the backdrop to what is now delightfully known as “The Myspace Era”.
So get ready to ask yourself where the past decade has gone as we straighten our fringes, wear as many studded belts as possible and remind you of some of the greatest albums that came out of 2005.
Fall Out Boy – From Under The Cork Tree
It’s hard to think that this album that launched Fall Out Boy into the forefront of our scene and consequently into megastardom is ten years old. Then again, doesn’t your life before Sugar We’re Goin’ Down almost seem non existent? I remember the first time I saw them on TV and couldn’t believe this band I was telling everyone to listen to were getting major airplay… take that, friends in 2003!
Panic At The Disco – A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out
Ah the first time novelty of bleeding heart wit, harpsichords and eye-liner. They struck a nerve between guilty pleasure hate or teenage idolisation, but if you’re telling me that you don’t scream “the poor groom’s bride is a whore ” at the top of your lungs when you hear I Write Sins.. then you’re a filthy liar.
Hit The Lights – This Is A Stick Up Don’t Make It A Murder
A paragon of the pop punk we all know and love. This album kept alive the raw energetic feel of pop punk with a polished sound to usher in a more radio friendly concept paved by bands like New Found Glory, and even with Body Bag aside, this album is filed with bangers!
Cartel – Chroma
In the vein of polished pop punk, Cartel debuted with Chroma, an album so infectiously poppy that nearly every chorus was a sing-a-long. Still touring today, they’ve shown longevity isn’t a fluke and still have enough anthems to keep the first timers tapping their feet.
The Starting Line – Based On A True Story
The difficult second album. The Starting Line became a house hold pop punk name with their debut record Say It Like You Mean It and became one Drive-Thru Records ‘Mount Rushmore’ bands to symbolise their golden age. Although met with mixed reviews, this album shows a diversity, and more importantly, growth within the genre and still packs enough tracks on it to be a solid record, Go on, give it another listen.
Motion City Soundtrack – Commit This To Memory
If you still don’t smile listening to Everything Is Alright then you’re dead inside. And ten years later those grins are beginning to turn into wrinkles but who the hell cares when an album like this will last for generations. From the grimly named but distinctly positive LGFUD to When You’re Around, this record is enough to lift any boring house party into a beer spilling, post-prom dance fest. Oh, and Mark Hoppus produced this album, and he knows a thing or two about pop punk.
A Day To Remember – And Their Name Was Treason
Did you guys know you favourite pop punk / metal cross-over were putting out records a decade ago? There debut album paved their way to monumental success both in and out of the mainstream, and seem to be one of the few bands that can garner fans from two separate genres without creating much resentment from either camp. ATNWT is a throat puncher of a release that seemed to skirt under the XcoreXbrootalXcore metal that started to flourish around 2005 with catchy hooks, driven guitars and enough pop power to propel them into the future. That is progression.
Paramore – All We Know Is Falling
Before Hayley Williams was warbling scales on huge stages in front of massive audiences she was centre stage of some (not totally creepy) shrine in my room back at university. Paramore’s debut is a smash of hit after hit that was a breath of fresh air in a male dominated genre. Combing powerful pop rock and powerful vocals, this album seems to have paved the way for so many female fronted bands in the past decade. Although Paramore’s sound and audience may have changed over the years, AWKIF is undeniably a break-though record that can be held in the highest of esteem for not only it’s influence but as a stand alone, solid pop punk album. Listen to the record again and remember why Paramore will become a legacy in the pop punk genre.
The Academy Is… Almost Here
Fueld By Ramen were cashing cheques faster than they could write them in 2005, with Fall Out Boy, Panic At The Disco and a plethora of other artists, one of them being The Academy Is… Almost Here being the most successful of their stop start career, it was certainly a record of the Myspace era. It has everything from the wit driven tongue lashing lyrics and the kind of choruses that had kids shaking the hairspray out of their fringes.
All American Rejects – Move Along
Doesn’t it feel like this album has always just existed? It may be because you’ve heard Dirty Little Secret one billion times or the fact you’ve heard Gives You Hell one zillion times and logically this album precedes it. Either way, the album your drunken sing-a-long guilty pleasure was taken from turns 10 years old this year. Maybe it’s time for another drink.
Well there you go, feel old yet? Were there any albums that year that we missed off or any specific songs of 2005 that were the soundtrack to your year? Let us know in the comment section. Now lets all retire to our rooms, try to remember the logins to our Myspace accounts and pray to baby Christmas Jesus that the amount of hairspray we used back then didn’t contribute to the huge holes in the O Zone layer.
Relive 2005 with our Spotify playlist of songs from all the albums above!
