I figured I might as well stick with what I did last week and kick off this holiday weekend with yet another outstanding classic from the Revelation Records back catalog (man, what an excellent label that used to be) in Texas is the Reason's "Do You Know Who You Are?", which is among the greatest emo records ever from a band whose time certainly came to an end all too soon. Their memorable songs possessed a unique sound that has never been matched, and probably never will be.
When the band formed in 1994 its members had served not particularly noteworthy stints in Shelter, 108, Ressurection (yes, that's actually how they spelled it), Copper, and Fountainhead; but whether they like it or not (and I see no reason why they wouldn't), they'll likely all be most remembered for their time in Texas is the Reason. To the best of my knowledge they recorded a mere 14 songs in three years, including a self-titled EP, splits 7"s with The Promise Ring and Samuel, and the aforementioned full-length—their final release in 1996. Turmoil amidst the individual members apparently led to their breakup in 1997, at a time when the band was said to be courting numerous major labels. And oh, the pain it brings when I imagine what brilliance could've materialized had such gifted songwriters been given the opportunity to work with a major label budget. Damn...
But anyway, while they may have borrowed their name from a Misfits lyric, the "punkest" thing about the band was probably their record collections, as musically we're talking flawless emo blueprints that have been all too disregarded in recent years as the genre becomes further distorted and confused with age. "Do You Know Who You Are?" really is the perfect emo record: Fusing equal parts slower, moody atmospheres and punchy, pop-tinged smatterings using fluid clean passages and crunchy distortion within catchy songs that range from memorable to purely infectious—there's not even close to a bad song in their entire discography. Garrett Klahn's unique vocals certainly lent a lot to the band's identity, but even the instrumental title track works wonders in proving the band's universal strengths. And "Back and to the Left"? One of the best songs ever. Period.
Texas is the Reason "Back and to the Left"
Texas is the Reason "The Day's Refrain"
In the years since Texas is the Reason's unfortunate breakup, guitarist Norm Arenas and bassist Scott Winegard played in New End Original (with Arenas most recently joining Gratitude as a touring guitarist under the name Norman Brannon); drummer Chris Daly did time with Jets to Brazil; and Garrett Klahn was in the New Rising Sons, though his current outfit, Solea, is by far the best of the band's post-Texas... exploits.
Thankfully, once more, the most important half of Texas is the Reason's recorded output is still in print straight from the label, so if you're so insane as to not possess this CD already, take care of business, my friends. This is absolutely another record that should be used for takin' the young ones to school, so to speak:
And while we're somewhat close to the topic, can someone please tell me how it is humanly possible for Jets to Brazil to suck as bad as they do? Okay, okay, maybe they don't outright suck, but after so much anticipation when I first heard them years and years ago I was so let down that at that moment, believe me, they fucking sucked. Come on, ex-members of Jawbreaker, Handsome, and Texas is the Reason? Including the mighty Blake Schwarzenbach and Jeremy Chatelain? How the fuck can the results not be one of the greatest bands to have ever set foot on the planet!? I never could figure that one out. Talk about heartbreaking...
Comments
Great call…fucking PERFECT record. Perfect. And “Back and to the Left” is on my top ten songs of all time list. Good choice on that one. Every so called ‘emo’ band can only hope to be 1/10th as good as these guys.
I had the honor of seeing them play twice during their short career, both at Black Cat in Washington DC. Amazing.
And I also agree with your ‘Jets To Brazil’ opinion. I think I listened to them for as long as I did simply because of their collective history. Yuck.
.: Chris
12.30.2005 | By Chris
I’ve always adored this band. Andrew, you’ve been hitting grandslams lately. First Farside, now TITR. Awesome. I gave all my friends copies of the s/t 7” as gifts in 1998. Those three songs were so rad. C’mon, ‘Antique’ just is the perfect mid 90’s indie rock song. And the LP is the blueprint for all indie rock from that point on.
Oh and Jets to Brazil sucked AFTER they put out the first LP. Lyrically, ‘Orange Rhyming Dictionary’ is far and away better than most records can ever hope to be. The music isnt too shabby either. Great post!
12.30.2005 | By Andrew DiFiore
Great band! You should give the band Solea a listen if you haven’t already. Same vocalist as Texas Is The Reason.
12.31.2005 | By Anonymous
Hey, could you or any reader here recommend some other good “screamo/emo” bands?
Last time I gave “screamo/emo” a try I was told to listen to Dashboard Confessional and Atreyu. Now both are ok in my books but I’d really like to listen to more songs like “back and to the left”. Harder, but similar songs/bands are ok, too! =)
12.31.2005 | By Anonymous
atreyu and dashboard are kinda the worst shit you can find in “screamo/emo” (atreyu is metalcore), but how about mineral or sunny day real estate?
1.1.2006 | By Anonymous
Ok thanks, I will check them out! =)
I usually listen to metal and trance, so I’m really exited to delve into new (to me!) subgenres of music, namely hardcore and emo/screamo!
1.1.2006 | By Anonymous
Send me an email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you want other recommendations, there are many more to be had.
1.1.2006 | By Andrew Aversionline
definitely check out Far for some great emo. they were way ahead of their time. In Pieces is another great, great screamo band.
Regards,
kermit
1.1.2006 | By Anonymous
I’m really glad you took the time to blog this record, it’s one of my favorites as well. Sonically, they were amazing at crafting such a fluid and emotive sound. One of the keys to their success had to have been the guitar interplay between Klahn and Arenas, the latter of whom played in drop D while the former played in standard. Great band.
Also, I liked the first JTB record but the newer two are pretty lousy.
1.1.2006 | By paul
i’ve seen TITR namedropped a lot, but i’ve never bothered to check them out ‘cause i though they’d suck (because of JTB). that’s the problem with checking out your music retrospectively. but, obviously, i’ve been missing out, ‘cause this is some great shit. love the snappy snare.
btw, andrew - the solea review on the site won’t open. :|
1.2.2006 | By chris
Holy shit, every review on my site must have been broken for the last few days because of something I tried to do last week. Son of a bitch. Oh well, it works now, many thanks for letting me know there was some sort of problem!
https://www.aversionline.com/reviews/2732/
1.2.2006 | By Andrew Aversionline
I know I may start a shitstorm with this post, but I have to say it… I’ve just never cared for this album. It’s not that I didn’t think they were a great band, because they most definitely were… the EP was great (“Antique” remains a favorite to this day), they were incredible live, but the full length just never really seized me by the balls.
The funny thing about it is that this album DOES contain all the right elements—the chunky-yet-melodic guitars, great emo-meets-rock blend, etc. But it’s as if you took all the ingredients to make a cake, but ended up with something that just tasted like whitebread. In my opinion, this record just doesn’t live up to the hype and legacy that it’s generated. There, I said it.
1.2.2006 | By Ben
to Andrew . You just have not noticed one record actually split that they did .Check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Choice_Records_Discography (at the end of the list)
http://www.gosamgo.com/comp.htm (here its a picture of the record sleeve)
I saw them live twice.Even interwieved them.Brilliant.Own record,t-shirt.
adam/london/poland before.
1.2.2006 | By Anonymous
more to come ...
I’ve just found this :
http://www.yourchoicerecords.de/
adam/london
1.2.2006 | By Anonymous
Hmm. How melodic/pop can a band get and still be hardcore? I don’t know. TITR fails, I think. Plus the Misfits song is so much more RAWWK.
1.4.2006 | By Anonymous
Another excellent choice with this record - I played the hell out of this when it came out. I will, however, stick up for JTB. The first album is really, really good, the second’s hit-or-miss and the third is pretty much a blander version of the second, but they were a solid pop (not emo, not indie, not punk) band, and if you wanted Texas Is The Handsome Van Pelt Jawbreaker, well, go listen to those records instead. They’re good too. There. I said it.
1.4.2006 | By cliff
The day I bought Orange Rhyming Dictionary is burned into my memory. I guess that many talented people cancel each other out. What a boring band.
1.6.2006 | By J. Gremmer
Hmmm…I’m surprised to hear so many people expressing hatred towards jets to brazil. I’ve never heard any of their music, but being a fan of helmet, quicksand and handsome I’d earmarked them as a band to check out and was presuming they’d be pretty good. Perhaps I’ll try and download a song or two before shelling out on the album
Tom (from England)
1.16.2006 | By Tom
does anyone know if the final songs that TITR wrote have ever been released in any format? when i saw them in chicago and nyc, they were playing at least 3 songs that weren’t on any of the records, including one called “when rock and roll was a baby”...
2.12.2006 | By Anonymous
I love this CD, its my favorite one from the TEXAS collection. “Do you know who you are” is just a masterpiece
3.18.2012 | By site de pariuri
Great site! I just stumbled across it by accident the other day & been happily reading away about some of my favourite (& sadly, great ‘lost’) bands. I played this album to death on an old C90 cassette that was backed with ‘Seemless’ by Into Another, many moons ago (another quality album!).
This article has just inspired me to dig it out, & it’s still holding the test of time & currently bringing back lots of teenage memories. An excellent album that is up there, but not quite as good as ‘Diary’ by Sunny Day Real Estate, which I think is a bona fide ‘Emo’ classic.
4.30.2012 | By Steftones