Albumay Log

[chasetremaine]

I started late (on the 15th) and across the first few days, I accidentally created a pattern of listening to at least one long-time favorite and one brand new release every day. So I'm going to try to keep that up for the remainder of the month!

15th
Copeland - Eat, Sleep, Repeat (the .alb version!)
(2006, the peak of piano-pop-meets-emo-rock, adore this album, always have and always will)
Power Wolves - MK ULTRA MODERN
(2026, experimental pop/rock, couldn't really make heads or tails of this one, not sure whether I'll return to it)

16th
Jesse McCartney - In Technicolor
(2014, adult pop/retro pop, truly one of the greatest pop albums of the 2000s and an underrated gem)
Held. - GREY
(2026, post-hardcore from members of The Sleeping and Coheed & Cambria, honestly incredible stuff, can't wait to revisit)
Younite - INYUN Part.1 EP
(2026, K-pop boy band, they're on my radar thanks to the fantastic 90s throwback single "Rock Steady," but sadly nothing on this EP measured up)

17th
Starfield - Starfield
(2004, worship/Christian rock, one of the best "band worship" albums I've ever heard, a truly special debut album, and one of me and my wife's favorite on-the-way-to-church listens)
sace6 - brutalist
(2026, post-hardcore meets modern-pop/R&B, I've heard this concoction more and more over recent years but this was a really wild and confident version of it -- first car listen was solid but I look forward to a good headphones listen)

18th
Official HIGE Dandism - Rejoice
(2024, J-rock/maximalist pop, hardly counts as "old" but I've listened to this album such an absurd amount of times over the past few years that I think it's earned its place as an "old favorite")
Jason Dunn - Formerly Known As...
(2026, pop-punk from the original lead singer of Hawk Nelson, solid for the genre but the production really holds it back)
Fury & Solace - By Endurance
(2026, post-rock, really fantastic instrumental work that feels like it's being played by a real band -- because it is! -- and man do these guys kill it across this album)

19th
cinema staff - Kaitei
(2021, J-rock, my greatest obsession of the 2020s, a towering achievement of alt/emo, the perfect encapsulation of what I personally want rock music to sound like, and quite possibly my most-listened album of all time)
Pipe Bomb - Hell Hole
(2026, straightforward old school hardcore with a polished metal edge, this is what hardcore is supposed to sound like, heck yeah!)

20th
Architects - All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
(2016, metalcore perfection, I incidentally listened to this album a few days shy of its tenth anniversary, I bought it from a CD store on a whim when it released and it became an all-timer favorite, perfectly marrying icy and sad synths with warm and angry guitar riffs -- the primary songwriter died of cancer a few months after the album released, and this career peak of a masterpiece is basically his dissertation on nihilism -- the most heartbreaking bangers you'll ever hear)
Broadway Showdown - Broadway Showdown Presents: Let the Showdown Begin!
(2026, MySpacecore/crabcore, these guys are clearly having a blast, but I am not the right audience for having fun along with them...)
ILLIT - MAMIHLAPINATAPAI EP
(2026, K-pop, this girl group occasionally has really great songs, and this new EP added a couple to that list)
Bellay Taylor Smith - for the home EP
(2026, gorgeous Australian singer-songwriter soft-pop, with an elegant voice that rides the thin line between being gorgeous and yet nearly annoying, in a Tones & I sort of way)

21st
Emery - The Weak's End & The Weak's End - Live [2021]
(2004, I never really got into this album, seeing as I fell in love with the band's sophomore album back in 2005 and didn't go backwards for many years, but when I do revisit this, I'm reminded how many great deep cuts it has)
Emery - Styrofoam
(2026, the upcoming/unreleased Emery album that sees the band moving in a 90s punk direction, it's pretty funny and fun)

[[for the bulk of the 22nd-29th, I sadly fell off of Albumay due to the holiday weekend followed by a week filled with podcast audio editing]]

24th
Mae - Destination: Beautiful
(2003, extremely creative and catchy rip-offs of Jimmy Eat World, but nevertheless a solid debut for a band that would grow to become much more than this -- I revisited this album specifically because I was about to record a podcast about it for my membership platform, where I record episodes with members about music they love)
Grand Motel - Tooth of the Lion: A Spring Perennial
(2026, midwest emo-inspired Christian rock, charmingly round around the edges, filled with potential, lots of earnest fun)

26th
Mae - Destination: B-Sides
(2004, weird to say about a b-sides collection, but this was one of the most important albums for me growing up, absolutely instrumental in getting me into the "scene")
The Band CAMINO - NeverAlways (Vol. 2)
(2026, perfectly produced pop-rock, somehow I missed Vol. 1, but this was fine -- I imagine a strong album could be made from the best tracks of both volumes)

30th
Yesterday's Rising - Lightworker
(2005, hidden gem of post-hardcore, sadly this band's only full-length)
Elder - Through Zero
(2026, progressive metal that somehow isn't very metal, with lengthy instrumental sections, flavors of emo alt and doom, and songs that average 9 minutes long. So good that I immediately listened a second time)
ONEWE - The Quiver EP
(2026, K-pop/K-rock, a very good Korean group that's a bit more underground, the main single "ICARUS" was fantastic but the rest of the EP disappointed)

31st
idle threat - blurred visions
(2021, post-hardcore with lots of other flavors thrown in, one of my top 5 favorite releases of the 2020s so far)
idle threat - you'll forget the sun
(2026, the long awaited follow-up to the above debut, definitely a step down but still very good and currently my most-listened album of 2026)