A Plug About Trump From Louis CK

These aren't my words, they were taken from an email list I am subscribed to from my favorite comedian, Louis CK. I felt that this little piece was poignant, thought provoking and important. I never post political things because I have always felt that its a good way to cause harsh feelings towards people. I just strongly agreed with this piece and felt people could benefit from it. Just know in advance that I won't argue back with anyone, and will more than likely delete comments that are going to cause people to argue. I am not interested in having updates on my phone whenever someone disagrees with someone else on my thread. If you are offended or have something you feel can't be left unsaid, put your phone down, think about it for a long time, and then just keep living your life and realize that it doesn't matter. You are going to change absolutely nobody's mind on the Internet. Thanks for your time.

"Please stop it with voting for Trump. It was funny for a little while. But the guy is Hitler. And by that I mean that we are being Germany in the 30s. Do you think they saw the shit coming? Hitler was just some hilarious and refreshing dude with a weird comb over who would say anything at all.  

And I'm not advocating for Hillary or Bernie. I like them both but frankly I wish the next president was a conservative only because we had Obama for eight years and we need balance. And not because I particularly enjoy the conservative agenda. I just think the government should reflect the people. And we are about 40 percent conservative and 40 percent liberal. When I was growing up and when I was a younger man, liberals and conservatives were friends with differences. They weren’t enemies. And it always made sense that everyone gets a president they like for a while and then hates the president for a while. But it only works if the conservatives put up a good candidate. A good smart conservative to face the liberal candidate so they can have a good argument and the country can decide which way to go this time.  

Trump is not that. He's an insane bigot. He is dangerous.  

He already said he would expand libel laws to sue anyone who "writes a negative hit piece" about him. He says "I would open up the libel laws so we can sue them and win lots of money. Not like now. These guys are totally protected." He said that. He has promised to decimate the first amendment. (If you think he’s going to keep the second amendment intact you’re delusional.) And he said that Paul Ryan, speaker of the house will "pay" for criticizing him. So I'm saying this now because if he gets in there we won't be able to criticize him anymore. 

Please pick someone else. Like John Kasich. I mean that guy seems okay. I don't like any of them myself but if you're that kind of voter please go for a guy like that. It feels like between him and either democrat we'd have a decent choice. It feels like a healthier choice. We shouldn't have to vote for someone because they're not a shocking cunt billionaire liar.

We should choose based on what direction the country should go.  

I get that all these people sound like bullshit soft criminal opportunists. The whole game feels rigged and it's not going anywhere but down anymore. I feel that way sometimes.  

And that voting for Trump is a way of saying "fuck it. Fuck them all". I really get it. It's a version of national Suicide. Or it's like a big hit off of a crack pipe. Somehow we can't help it. Or we know that if we vote for Trump our phones will be a reliable source of dopamine for the next four years. I mean I can't wait to read about Trump every day. It's a rush. But you have to know this is not healthy. 

If you are a true conservative. Don't vote for Trump. He is not one of you. He is one of him. Everything you have heard him say that you liked, if you look hard enough you will see that he one day said the exact opposite. He is playing you. 

In fact, if you do vote for Trump, at least look at him very carefully first. You owe that to the rest of us. Know and understand who he is. Spend one hour on google and just read it all. I don’t mean listen to me or listen to liberals who put him down. Listen to your own people. Listen to John Mccain. Go look at what he just said about Trump. "At a time when our world has never been more complex or more in danger... I want Republican voters to pay close attention to what our party's most respected and knowledgeable leaders and national security experts are saying about Mr. Trump, and to think long and hard about who they want to be our next Commander-in-Chief and leader of the free world.”

When Trump was told what he said, Trump said "Oh, he did? Well, that's not nice," he told CBS News' chief White House correspondent Major Garrett. "He has to be very careful."

When pressed on why, Trump tacked on: "He'll find out.”

(I cut and pasted that from CBS news)

Do you really want a guy to be president who threatens John McCain? Because John McCain cautiously and intelligently asked for people to be thoughtful before voting for him? He didn’t even insult Trump. He just asked you to take a good look. And Trump told him to look out.

Remember that Trump entered this race by saying that McCain is not a war hero. A guy who was shot down, body broken and kept in a POW camp for years. Trump said “I prefer the guys who don’t get caught.” Why did he say that? Not because he meant it or because it was important to say. He said it because he’s a bully and every bully knows that when you enter a new school yard, you go to the toughest most respected guy on the yard and you punch him in the nose. If you are still standing after, you’re the new boss. If Trump is president, he’s not going to change. He’s not going to do anything for you. He’s going to do everything for himself and leave you in the dust.    

So please listen to fellow conservatives. But more importantly, listen to Trump. Listen to all of it. Everything he says. If you liked when he said that “torture works” then go look at where he took it back the next day. He’s a fucking liar.  

A vote for Trump is so clearly a gut-vote, and again I get it. But add a little brain to it and look the guy up. Because if you vote for him because of how you feel right now, the minute he's president, you're going to regret it. You're going to regret it even more when he gives the job to his son. Because American democracy is broken enough that a guy like that could really fuck things up. That's how Hitler got there. He was voted into power by a fatigued nation and when he got inside, he did all his Hitler things and no one could stop him.

Again, I’m not saying vote democrat or vote for anyone else. If Hilary ends up president it should be because she faced the best person you have and you and I both chose her or him or whoever. Trump is not your best. He’s the worst of all of us. He’s a symptom to a problem that is very real. But don’t vote for your own cancer. You’re better than that.

That's just my view. At least right now. I know I’m not qualified or particularly educated and I'm not right instead of you. I’m an idiot and I'm sure a bunch of you are very annoyed by this. Fucking celebrity with an opinion. I swear this isn’t really a political opinion. You don’t want to know my political opinions.   (And I know that I’m only bringing myself trouble with this shit.) Trump has nothing to do with politics or ideology. He has to do with himself. And really I don't mean to insult anyone. Except Trump. I mean to insult him very much. And really I’m not saying he’s evil or a monster. In fact I don’t think Hitler was. The problem with saying that guys like that are monsters is that we don’t see them coming when they turn out to be human, which they all are. Everyone is. Trump is a messed up guy with a hole in his heart that he tries to fill with money and attention. He can never ever have enough of either and he’ll never stop trying. He’s sick. Which makes him really really interesting. And he pulls you towards him which somehow feels good or fascinatingly bad. He’s not a monster. He’s a sad man. But all this makes him horribly dangerous if he becomes president. Give him another TV show. Let him pay to put his name on buildings. But please stop voting for him. And please watch Horace and Pete." -Louis CK

Anybody Want A Peanut?

I don't really expect this to amount to much. It's 11:26 on a Friday night and I drank caffeine and ate entirely too much red meat too recently to be entering my second REM of sleep like I normally should be. Like most nights recently, I am up listening to my wife snooze and thinking about distant things; Baseball, vinyl, records being released this year, what I would do if I stumbled on a small loan of a million dollars, when will my wife finally have watched all the episodes of Teen Mom so we can stop watching that tremendously terrible show or I am going to cancel Hulu, and so on. While I lay and solve the worlds problems on my 1/4th of the bed, I have been having a pretty recurring thought recently.

I was thinking recently about how much I hated being engaged. I know that's brash to begin with, but hear me out. I was working 45 hours a week at an $8.50 pay scale. I felt like I was working my ass off and couldn't even afford to get a sandwich for lunch. My fiance was working as a flight attendant and was living in Minneapolis. She would come home every 2 or 3 weeks, but would stress about making it back to work in time, so we never really enjoyed ourselves. Not to mention, I hardly had time to spend with her anyway, I was working so often. So we planned this wedding from 1200 miles apart. To be fair, her mother did a tremendous amount of the work, I picked up the things I was trusted with. But I was trying to relay messages to everyone, pick things up, make invitations, get everything situated, and try not to stamp on anyone's toes in the process. I was so stressed. I was trying to impress in-laws, get my own shit together, try and make enough money to fund moving across the country, and dealing with a fiance that was even more stressed than I was. It was all I could do to not fall apart. And while that was totally and completely exhausting, I think the thing that was more exhausting was everyone's "advice." Offering nuggets of foolhardy information from a bitter marriage of 40 years that's solely consisted of not strangling your significant other. "Don't do it." was the one I heard the most. And I think it's partially in jest, I always kind of took it like: "I'm only joking... please help me." The only response I could ever muster was: "Wow. sounds like you married a real asshole, congratulations."

I guess I do understand it to some extent. Marriage means a few things. No more shitting with the door open, No more frozen pizzas for dinner every night, no more potato guns to shoot the neighbors, no more showering every third day, no more partially dirty laundry, no more only attending sacrament meetings, no more video games in your underwear and on and on and on. Getting married really means refining the edges in your life. And some people just aren't really cut out for that, and that's fine. Some people thrive on being single and meeting new women/men every night. some people don't like change. And I totally get that.

I guess what my rebuttal to all of that is a couple of things. Just because you are unhappy with your asshole of a wife/husband, doesn't mean that everyone will be. That's like suggesting that because you don't like vanilla ice cream they should stop serving it all together. What an dumb shit thing to suggest. Did you ever take into consideration that maybe you're the asshole in your relationship/for not liking vanilla ice cream? Just a thought. Being self aware is totally important.

I guess I should relay that the gist of that paragraph is that everyone is different. We all will have totally different experiences and things will work differently for everyone. So regardless of what information you hope to push across to those who aren't married, you should be aware that your advice could be rendered totally useless and a waste of breath. And more importantly, why would you ever raise a voice of warning about marriage to someone who is engaged? Is your sense of humor that terrible, or do you truly believe the bile you've just spilt? Saying someone shouldn't get married when you are married speaks volumes. Don't speak poorly of your wife ever, even if it's jokingly.

I also truly believe that if you marry the right person and for the right reasons, it's like taking all that shit that you love to do, and making it better. Sure, you may not get to do it as often as you would like. And you may have to put up with watching some painfully terrible dreadful and loathsome reality tv. But that is what makes it all worth it. Imagine your favorite thing, whatever it is. Eating ice cream in bed, sneaking $40 worth of McDonalds into a movie theater (looking @ U Kasey), Going to the beach, shooting bottle rockets at someones house, going to a concert, throwing water balloons at the Steck's house from the back of Jens' truck while their oldest son chases you with a gun to the outskirts of Ephraim, whatever it is, envision it. Now imagine doing that thing with someone you care more about than anyone in the world. Like, you don't wanna spend time with anyone else, or do anything without them because they're your best friend. And they feel the exact same way about you. it's like doing all that weird sadistic shit that was mentioned and making it 400000000 times better. That's how I feel about marriage.

I guess in some ways you do have to compromise some things. Unfortunately, that's what growing up means. Sometimes you have to not buy a bunch of useless stuff because you have to pay rent. Sometimes you have to sacrifice time you would like to be using swimming or doing fun stuff because you have to go to work because bills are due at the end of the month. Marriage is a similar concept. Sometimes you have to do dishes because your wife cooked. Sometimes you have to go out of your way to buy flowers to make your wife happy. Sometimes you have to watch Teen Mom because you keep farting in bed and that's the deal.

(Her way is not very sportsman-like.)


May God have mercy on Donald Trump's soul.

Influential Albums For A Young Standalone

I have recently been turning my attention to the roots of what truly is the genetic makeup of my weird musical taste. I decided to itemize it for my own purpose, and for those who may be interested in what I felt like was quintessential.


I guess I should mention that my list does not contain a lot of 70's-80's rock, of which is the norm. I grew up listening to 100% country music radio. My dad listened to a lot of George Straight, Keith Whitley, and Merle Haggard. My mom listened to Shania Twain, Martina McBride, and Dixie Chicks. I went out and bought Green Day's Warning when I was in 3rd grade, and my parents bought me Weird Al's Running With Scissors for Christmas one year; essentially starting what was my musical independence. I went through a heavy rap phase in 7th grade where I was fluent in Nelly's Country Grammar, Ludacris' Disturbin Tha Peace, and 50 Cent's The Massacre. It wasn't until 8th grade (2005) that I really started growing into my own. I was washing dishes at a local restaurant for $5.25 an hour under the table. I would cash my check every 2 weeks and go and buy CD's. I feel like it's important to mention that this was a time where I couldn't just look up music on Spotify or Youtube if I wanted to know about a band or how they sounded. You had to buy it or borrow a cd from a friend. The rise of MP3 players and iPods weren't until a couple of years later. And I was too poor to afford it.


Although I do feel like some albums were a little more shaping in my later years of high school, these are the few that stick out as the ones that started it all; mostly ranging from 2004-05 in their release. We'll start backwards from 10.

10.

Metallica - Self Titled

I was hesitant about adding this one to the list because of how I feel about Metallica now (RIP Napster) but I felt like that would be disingenuous. My cousin burned me a bunch of Nirvana, and Metallica CD's when I was quite young. This ended up being my favorite of the bunch (Although I did also really like Nevermind by Nirvana.) I listened to this album constantly. I am even wearing a Metallica shirt in my 10th grade school photo. Metal.

9.

Between The Buried And Me - Alaska

I purchased a different Victory Records CD and it included a DVD with various music videos on it. I watched that DVD so often that I had the videos memorized in what order they would appear. The song Alaska off this album was number 3. I went and found this CD and listened to it a lot. Part of it was because I enjoyed the music. The other part was that it was heavy as hell, and I liked feeling bad ass.

8.

System Of A Down - Mezmerize

To be totally honest, I have no idea how I became a S.O.A.D. fan. I saw their music video for B.Y.O.B. one morning on VH1 and decided to go buy that CD. (I actually made my sister take me to FYE and buy the unedited version, thanks Amanda. Now I know a whole bunch of damn swear words because of it.) I became a huge fan thereafter, and bought all the subsequent releases. I used to wear my System Of A Down shirt to wrestling meets to let everyone know I wasn't dicking around.

7.

Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil

Another one of those albums I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I still know almost every word off. This is also one of those bands I am not sure how I became a fan of. I saw someone wearing an Avenged shirt at school one day and he looked super bad ass. So I decided to go and purchase City Of Evil. It was all downhill from there.

6.

Senses Fail - Let It Enfold You

My brother actually bought this cd. I don't really remember when the time frame was. But, we used to live in a loft together when we were young and we would listen to this CD on a little boom box over and over again. I still quite enjoy it.

5.

Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely

I remember my sister taking me to school one morning as a freshman and she was listening to Niki FM off Hawthorne's previous release "The Silence In Black And White" and thought it was really cool. I went to the store and couldn't find that CD, so I bought this one. I did not end up regretting it. This album was perfect for an overweight freshman at the time.

4.

Silverstien - Discovering The Waterfront

Again. This one totally stumps me as to how I stumbled onto this album. I know that they had a music video for Smashed Into Pieces from their prior release on the DVD I previously mentioned, but I can't be sure that that was the reason. I still love this album. I recently attended the 10 year tour where they played the album in full. It made Jake of yesteryear quite happy.

3.

Chiodos - All's Well That Ends Well

I remember stumbling on some kind of Equal Vision Records sampler that featured Baby You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek. I went up to FYE later that week and purchased this album. I listened to it on my commute just the other day, it's still as good now as it is then. This was one of the first progressive bands I got very invested in.

2.

Underoath - They're Only Chasing Safety

I would say my most fond memory of this album is going and playing football at my friend Nick's house. He would put it on the outside speakers and we would just play football for hours. This was the very first album I put on my iPod when I had saved up and bought it years later. This album has stood the test of time. I can't wait for their reunion tour where they will be playing this front to back along with Define The Great Line.

1.

Coheed And Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness

Anyone who knew me back then could have easily seen this coming from a long way off. I used to wear my Coheed shirt 2 times per week because I loved it so much. I usually get guff from fellow Coheed fans because most of them worship (oft times literally) their prior release, In Keeping Secrets. I do like that release, however this release had perfect timing for me. Trying to fit in in high school, not really having a place, being so tired of hearing the same rap music in the locker room, this album was a beacon of light. It has always felt like home to me. I still appreciate it in that light.

I Hate Sports Fans. (I Hate Myself)

I've spent the last 2 weeks pouring over countless Super Bowl reports, while tediously trying to distract myself with MLB trade rumors, and other winter off-season nonsense that MLB writers publish based on boredom/desperation.

"Top Five Double Play 2B/SS Combos Projected For 2016."

Me: "Huh. This is probably worth reading and may contain very vital information for the forthcoming season."

I guess part of me is trying to avoid, inevitably, getting too emotionally invested in this Super Bowl. The other part of me understands that it's not terribly often that the team you've been pouring over since 1999 makes it to the biggest stage in football 2 out of 3 years. (Unless, of course you're a fan of the Patriots and, vicariously, their methods of cheating or cutting corners.) So it's hard to not get invested.

I guess I have such a love hate relationship with watching professional sports. While it's worth the risk/reward supporting one franchise for your life, it never really pays off like it should. You can have a lifelong devotion to a team and never have the satisfaction of rubbing it in your enemies face, or even have the team acknowledge you. For instance, there are Cubs fans who have lived their whole lives and then died before seeing them win a World Series. Seriously, it's been 100 years. However, there is something so admirable about picking one team (per sport) and being a fan regardless of good years or bad. On the contrary, I have never had patience for the dip shits that say "I am a fan of players." That may very well be true, but it doesn't make you any less of an asshole for buying/wearing a Richard Sherman/Marshawn Lynch jersey in 2013. It makes you look like you're a fan of winning teams.

I have just found an odd stigma in professional sports, and sports in general. People (Myself ABSOLUTELY included) feel an odd sense of entitlement when it comes to professional sports; a game in which we do not play. We don't participate, the coaches don't call us for advice/reports in between quarters or after the 7th inning stretch, we don't attend the press conference afterwards to give our analysis of the game, and we sure as hell did not hit a home run or score any touchdowns. We simply picked a team, bought a hat/shirt, and now they are winning instead of losing. So now we get to thumb our noses at the Los Angeles Dodgers or Oakland Raiders fans, and in some cases verbally/physically assault them. We also get to express a seared in hatred for opposing players we dislike like Chase Utley, Charles Woodson, Yasiel Puig and Johnathan Papelbon. We may even say that they are awful players, bad people, need Jesus, are responsible for your divorce, gave your child a poor body image, and should be locked up for the rest of their life and maybe even chemically burned to death.

I think it's strange how easy it is to develop a hatred for someone you have never met in real life. You don't know where they live, what their favorite snow cone might be, or even what car they drive. But, you know that you hate them based on the way that they present themselves in a child's game they get paid millions of dollars to play. I'm not scolding, because I do it too. They're getting paid lots of money to play a game, which means we, the fans, have a right to scrutinize, scold, and (hopefully) bring to punishment, no? I even do it with actors/actresses; ask my wife how much I hate Anne Hathaway and how earnestly I believe that she ruined the Dark Knight Rises (Maybe I will publish a book on the subject.) I just find it interesting that it is so easy to hate someone based on what team is signing their checks. More importantly, how easy it is to hate someone because they are so incredibly talented and playing for a team that isn't the one you signed with (Figure of speech.) Looking at you Tom Brady and Clayton Kershaw; you assholes.

More importantly, I think it's strange that people justify shitty actions like stabbing, violently approaching and even verbally abusing another human being based on what jersey they are wearing; fan or player. I sometimes read about people beating the hell out of one another because they were wearing the opposing teams merchandise. Why? Did that team say your mother was fat? Did the organization write you a letter stating that they slept with your wife while you were away on business? And now you have a personal vendetta to destroy them, one fan at a time? Look, I am as competitive as anyone, and I am also a very sore loser, but never would I ever physically fight someone because they are a Dodgers/Seahawks/whatever fan.

If you are planning on starting a fight over sports, I'll say this: Fight the fair weather fans. Those kids that are wearing Golden State Warriors hats this year that were wearing Miami Heat hats 2 years ago, those are the kids that need a punch in the ear. Not the 30 year old wearing a Diamondbacks hat (He's had it hard enough.)

My very good friend Nick Peterson put it in perfect light: "Being a fan of a sports team is never a good enough reason to be friends with someone. It's also never a good reason to fight someone. It really doesn't matter THAT much."

Couldn't have said it better.

I do have 2 final complaints about professional sports. I have found that my biggest flaw as a fan is that the taste of victory does not even come close to the sorrow of defeat. It doesn't matter what sport. I have to admit that winning the AFC Championship this year was really awesome as a Denver fan, however, it was not nearly as wonderful as knowing the Patriots lost. I don't really know why that is, but I relish far more in the loss of my enemies, than the victory of my friends. And seeing people I dislike succeed is always so difficult to watch. I'm sure there is some psychological diagnosis for me. But, being a sociopath pays off occasionally.

All in all, I think my biggest problem with professional sports is the sense of helplessness you feel when your team is getting a good old fashioned ass kicking. I lived through the days of Jake Plummer, Jay Cutler and Tim Tebow at the helm of the Broncos offense. I know what it's like for a team to have you bent over a barrel. The strangest contrast I found in that, was that I never felt that way while competing myself. I could be going into a state wrestling tournament for 3rd place, heading into over time and still feel a shroud of hope that if I put forth the effort I can still win. You can never really trust professional athletes to have the same resolve. Sometimes I think that when the game has gone tits up, they're content to let it float. I saw the 2014 Super Bowl; well, the first 3 quarters, I left after that.

May the Lord bless your teams and future endeavors. Unless you're a Yankees, Dodgers, Packers, Patriots, Seahawks, Bulls, Lakers, Kings, Cougars, or Panthers fan. Then I hope your family gets the bird flu.

Go Broncos. Hail Peyton.

2015: A Year In Music

I understand that people's favorite albums list can become monotonous at times. So I want to clear the air. The only real reason I make these lists is because I believe music is made to be shared; not to make you feel like my taste in music is superior. I do this to create an opportunity for people to find some new/different music. In light of that, the reason I included the albums I did is because I connected with them in some way or another. This is not a contest of who I thought made the best music. This is merely the albums I listened to and felt a connection with emotionally, and that's why I put them in a list. I also put them in a list because I desire structure in all things.

So the format is this; I will provide the genre as defined by iTunes and also what I would say it is in parenthesis, A couple of links to songs I think you should listen to if you're interested, and also a link to the full album stream (In some cases I could only find YouTube links to full album streams) And a link to their webstore where you can purchase a physical copy of the album, and/or some merchandise if you desire. I also will have a little blurb about my top few albums.

I also included a list of EP's to begin with because all these EP's are great, and I didn't want to leave them out, but couldn't justify putting them into the full list.

Thanks for reading. Here we go:

EP's

5. This Wild Life - Clouded Atmosphere Edition

Genre: Alternative (Acoustic)

Listen To The Full Album Here
(New songs are Stay Up Late, It's Alright and Alone With Me)

or buy it at their Webstore

4. The Devil Wears Prada - Space

Genre: Rock (Metalcore)
Listen to the full album here

or buy it at their Webstore

3. Modern Baseball - The Perfect Cast

Genre: Alternative (Pop-Punk)

You can listen to it on their Bandcamp

or you can buy it at their Webstore

2. The Venetia Fair - Death Is The Poor Man's Doctor

Genre: Rock (Circus Rock)

This is the band's final song release before they break up. I listened to their old album (Every Sick Disgusting Thought We've Got In Our Brain) so much that I got a little bit sick of it. I'm genuinely a little heartbroken about their dismantling. They were some of the nicest band guys I have ever met. At any rate this isn't for purchase, but you can go jam it here and I highly suggest you do. It'll make you dance. If you wanna buy a shirt or old release, you can find their store here. (Do it.)

1. My Iron Lung - S.O.S.

Genre: Rock (Post-Rock/Experimental?)

Some of you might be asking: "Jake, Wasn't My Iron Lung your #1 album of 2014?" To which I say: "Yes." These guys are constantly putting out good tunes and have another LP on the way. I went and talked to these guys after their set on their tour with Silverstein. They were all incredibly nice and grateful for my small purchases of merchandise. This album provides a bit more clean (background) vocals, but still rips. There is only 2 songs, but both are really good and worth purchasing. You can listen to it here. Or go buy it on Bandcamp.

Okay, now we'll move onto full lengths. Working backwards.

LP's

20. nowHere - Hell Knows I'm Miserable Now

Genre: Spoken Word

I can't find a full album stream, so here is my favorite song. But, you can buy physical copies here.

19. State Champs - Around The World And Back

Genre: Pop-Punk
I like the songs Secrets and All Or Nothing

Listen to the full album here. or buy a Physical copy here.

18. Knuckle Puck - Copacetic

Genre: Pop-Punk
I like the songs Disdain and True Contrite

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

17. August Burns Red - Found In Far Away Places

Genre: Metalcore
I like the songs Ghosts and The Wake

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

16. Coheed And Cambria - The Color Before The Sun

Genre: Rock
I like the songs Colors and Eraser

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

15. Idlehands - Dena Mora

Genre: Alternative
I like the songs Mellow Christ and Youth, Too Late

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

14. Foxing - Dealer

Genre: Alternative
I like the songs Night Channels and The Magdalene

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

13. Better Off - Milk

Genre: Rock
I like the songs Unhappy and Dresser Drawer

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

12. Silverstein - I Am Alive In Everything I Touch

Genre: Post-Hardcore
I like the songs Toronto (Unabridged) and A Midwestern State Of Emergency

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

11. alone. - Somewhere In The Sierras

Genre: Alternative
I like the songs Close Without Closure and Maternity Leave (Funeral March 28th)

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

10. Wind In Sails - Morning Light

Genre: Alternative (Acoustic)
I like the songs Push And Shove and Hanging Over You

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

9. Dance Gavin Dance - Instant Gratification

Genre: Post Hardcore (Experimental)
I like the songs Variation and Death Of A Strawberry

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here. (Some cool, cheap cassette tapes still up)

8. Neck Deep - Life's Not Out To Get You

Genre: Pop-Punk
I like the songs Rock Bottom and Gold Steps

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

7. Between The Buried And Me - Coma Ecliptic

Genre: Progressive Metal
I like the songs The Coma Machine and Memory Palace

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

6. Citizen - Everybody Is Going To Heaven

Genre: Alternative (Rock)
I like the songs Heaviside and Stain

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

5. The Story So Far - Self Titled

Genre: Pop-Punk
I like the songs Scowl and Stalemate

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

I remember going to a Story So Far show back in 2012 just before they released What You Don't See, and there was a room of about 20-30 kids. I went to their headlining show this year and there was a packed room. I listen to this album, at the very least, twice a week. They deserve every ounce of growth and recognition they have received. The music speaks for itself.

4. Four Year Strong - Self Titled

Genre: Pop-Punk (Punk)
I like the songs Here's To Swimming With Bow Legged Women and I Hold Myself In Contempt

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

I was a freshman in high school when I first heard Four Year Strong. Their debut album (Rise Or Die Trying) was playing on the speakers of Hot Topic and I asked who it was. I then went and purchased the album at FYE next door. I lost touch with the band from that album to this. In the seemingly endless array of current pop-punk, A light of hope for true to the faith pop punk fans shines through in this Self Titled album. Tag team vocals, and blistering riffs keeps the light on for those who are tired of the 5 Seconds Of Summer knock offs. Edgy punk for the win.

3. Eidola - Degeneraterra

Genre: Post Hardcore Experimental
I like the songs Humble Ledger (Gnostic States) and Contra (Second Temple)

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

If you asked who my favorite act to come out of Utah is, up until this year I would have answered "Nobody." But that isn't the reason this album infiltrated my top 5. I first heard the album and thought it was really good. I then stumbled on a track by track explanation of concept, and it blew me away. This album seems to be an all encompassing act that brings something to the table for everyone to enjoy. I have always felt like this genre is such a delicate one; these guys hit the nail on the head.

2. Counterparts - Tragedy Will Find Us

Genre: Hardcore (Melodic hardcore)
I like the songs Resonate and Collapse

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

Simply put: I have listened to this album more than any other album released this year. While on the exterior it is some of the darkest music I listen to, there is certainly more to it than that. In my opinion, this album encompasses so many emotions in so few songs its astonishing. I've had few albums make me cry (I admit that begrudgingly) and this album brought me to tears twice. If you need a powerhouse album that's one sucker punch of emotions, followed by a left hook from riff city, this is it.

1. Pentimento - I, No Longer

Genre: Rock (Post-Rock)
I like the songs Clever Reason and Gateway

Listen to the full album here. or buy a physical copy here.

I have been excited about this album since I found them and was jamming their EP "Inside The Sea" in 2013. By all measures, I was absolutely not disappointed. I originally came into Pentimento because I liked their blend of pop-punk and post rock. They have evolved from that into something that is both beautifully crafted, heartfelt, and easy to listen to rock. To put it lightly, this album rules and if you haven't jammed it, you'll more than likely enjoy it. Pentimento are some really nice dudes, and they always respond kindly to people on their social media outlets. Send them a Home Alone picture/gif; They'll love it.