Welcome to the Boolin Tunes Staff Spotlight, a special segment on the site in which we dive deep into a classic or simply personally beloved album to shine a light on releases that we feel deserve a second glance.
As years go by, seasons come and go, tastes tend to change. Especially through adolescence, you may find that your views and priorities with the music you seek out changes entirely. Further, the natural assumption with the more sceenie weenie types of groups is that once you hit a certain age, it’s no longer cool to engage with them. On a personal level, I find that to be a pretty self-limiting and silly way of going about things. One such band I’d expect to be on many hardened metal dudes’ shit list so to speak, would be Pierce The Veil.
Emerging out a local post-hardcore scene in the mid-2000s, Pierce The Veil hit the scene with a stride during the peak of the MySpace era. As many post-hardcore, metalcore and generally alternative artists got their rise, so too did Pierce The Veil. With scene kid heartthrob tracks like “Bulletproof Love” (“my love for you was bulletproof, but you’re the one who shot me”) and “Caraphernalia” (“what if I can’t forget you?”) at the ready, it’s no wonder these guys hit it as big as they did – and as quickly as they did.
They had energy, riffs and songwriting chops for days. More than anything, though, they had memorability, and while the tunes I listed from their 2010 sophomore record Selfish Machines definitely showed the group had what it took to make it, their 2012 effort Collide With The Sky is where I believe they truly hit their stride.
Everyone’s heard, “King For A Day”, right? I feel like every emo kid – past, present and future – will have some story about this song. Be that of wistful reminiscence to the tune of “sigh… you know, that song really spoke to me when nothing else did”, or of a more boisterous “oh fuck yeah, that song’s a classic”; it seems like most people whose formative years were shaped around this music scene have something to say about it. To its credit, too, it’s one of those larger than life tracks from this side of music that I believe genuinely deserves its praise. A catchy, heavy and fun tune; with a music video that is equal parts hilarious and iconic, it has all the makings of a classic.
Naturally, as is the case with many songs of this size, this track (perhaps along with single “Bulls In The Bronx”) I’d argue is what most people remember Collide With The Sky as. However, if you dive below the surface into this record, you’ll find one of the most concise and well-written collections of post-hardcore gems out there.
I can’t stress enough that Collide With The Sky is absolute wall-to-wall bangers. I truly believe there is not a single weak link on this thing, and while perhaps it could be argued that my nostalgia goggles distort my view of this record at least a bit, it was only around 22 years of age that I came to that conclusion.
Much like My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, time has only done Collide With The Sky favours. With its incredibly tight songwriting and structure, the group’s unmistakable sound and the amount of memorable hooks across this thing, it’s a true achievement of a record, and one that absolutely deserves a revisit – if not a permanent addition to your album rotation.
Tracks like “Hell Above” and “The First Punch” showcase the group’s playing chops with blistering paces and fantastic riffs throughout, contrasted by incredibly infectious toplines and hooks. The group show their range with more subdued cuts “Tangled In The Great Escape” and closer “Hold On Till May”, the former of which featuring an amazing vocal duet between vocalist Vic Fuentes and then-letlive. vocalist/current FEVER 333 vocalist Jason Butler).
I could sing the praises of any and all songs across this thing, but in the interest of brevity I will simply say this: Collide With The Sky is one of the best post-hardcore records around, and while many understandably can’t look past Fuentes’ vocals, if you can you will surely find a new favourite for your collection.
In any case, however, we hope you’ll join us next week for another retrospective from our team. For all things Pierce The Veil, post-hardcore and music in general, keep it locked on Boolin Tunes.