Category: Blog

Bomb the Music Industry! (BtMI!) was a ska punk band based in New York that was active for a decade from 2004 to 2014. The band’s most well-known member was songwriter and producer Jeff Rosenstock, who has put out a bunch of phenomenal solo albums recently. Bomb the Music Industry! had a very fitting name as the band held heavy belief in DIY ethics. They released 6 albums for free online, gave fans free stencils and paints to make their own t-shirts, priced tickets below $10, and have even offered fans the chance to play on stage if they had an instrument and knew a song.

**fun fact: ska punk is sometimes teasingly (yet lovingly) called ‘skunk’ **

BtMI!’s music features fast, upbeat tunes with heavy emphasis on brass and twinkling,  toy-like electric sound effects, accompanied by hard-hitting, cynical lyrics. Jeff Rosenstock has a gift for writing lyrics that capture the depressing, pathetic parts of life in the most raw and honest way possible. Listening to some BtMI! lyrics might not cheer you up. In fact, they will probably make you feel like you feel pretty bleak, but they sure will make you feel like someone understands you and your terrible degenerate life. Bomb the Music Industry! isn’t all hopelessness and feeling worthless, though. Some songs remind you that life isn’t all bad, like their song Sort of Like Being Pumped from the album SCRAMBLES, which is about seeing a sunset.

I can’t choose any one BtMI! Album so I’m just going to talk about my top five favorite BtMI! songs.

1. Syke! Life is Awesome

A cheerful number about how life can get ya down but it’s funny how things always work out in the end. So don’t give up!

1. Side Projects Are Never Successful

Jeff Rosenstock was inspired to write this song after he had a panic attack and then got a speeding ticket, so he starts wistfully dreaming about how great it would be if the entire world was going to end. This song is also a jab at big corporations. How very punk.

1. Congratulations, John, On Joining Every Time I Die

Under the mask of teasing to hide mushy emotions, this song is actually a very sweet congratulations and bittersweet goodbye to a band member that was able to sign onto a more successful band. (** fun fact: the deal fell through by a chance of circumstance to John never actually did join Every Time I Die.)

1. Unlimited Breadsticks, Soup and Salad Days

This song is twinkling and energetic, but I think about it differently every time I listen to it depending on my mood. I’ll let you decide for yourself what this song is about.

1. I Don’t Love You Anymore

A song about finally being free from a drag of a relationship.

Honorable mention: 493 Ruth

Moss Icon was an emo/ post-hardcore band from Maryland that existed from 1986 to 1991. Though they are often credited with being one of the forerunners to the ‘emo’ genre, they were more involved with the hardcore punk scene, playing shows with Fugazi, Nation of Ulysses, etc.

What sets Moss Icon apart from their contemporaries is their spectacular ability to transition seamlessly from loud, fast-paced, spastic moments to quieter, wispier bits. The build and intensity created by these alternations in pace, intertwined with lead singer Jonathan Vance’s alternations between full-throated screaming and sleeptalk-like, politically-charged rambling makes for a unique listening experience. Another notable characteristic of Moss Icon are the strong, deep bass riffs that provide backbone to the songs. In the midst of the chaotic drumming and unhinged shouting, the melodic bass riffs serve as a beautiful counter and balance.

In 2012, Moss Icon released a formal, nineteen-song  ‘complete discography’ though it is missing a lot of songs. In this post I will be focusing on a four of my favorites from these 19 songs.

1. I’m Back Sleeping, or *******, or Something

This might be my favorite Moss Icon song. The intermittent feedback and trilling percussion almost sound like strange frogs and birds deep in an eerie jungle. This song is a perfect example of the band’s soft-loud-soft dynamic, which many following bands would come to use in the future. The song builds up to a booming, cathartic climax and then cools back down again at least 4 times in the course of the 3 minute song.  

1. Divinity Cove

This song might fool you in the beginning because it opens with a cute, beachy little guitar line, but right as you’re caught off guard, that heavy, powerful bass kicks in to knock you off your feet. This song showcases the true limits of Vance’s voice, as he screams “I thought it meant divided, I know it does” into the mic. What does this line mean? Don’t ask me.

1. Locket

The grooviness of the 80s really shines through in this song’s guitar. Locket is a real foot-tapper. But the lyrics send a chill down my spine, with talk of burning houses, ghosts, and feet creeping up creaking stairs.

1. Moth

When this song opens with a twangy guitar, you might brace yourself for the bass to kick in, thinking that you won’t be fooled again like Divinity Cove. When the twangy guitar doesn’t stop, you might relax thinking that this song will be a beachy tune after all. But you would be wrong! Moss Icon isn’t all screaming and fuzzy bass; they can wind it down too, but towards the middle, the song starts building up again into the noisy, intense Moss Icon we’ve always known. I guess they just couldn’t resist.