If you’re like me, February 14th is an annual celebration of my girlfriend pondering our relationship’s existence. Traditionally, it involves a sour breakfast met with short, curt responses followed by a pensive drive to work in which I wonder what I’ve done. It usually ends with a light bulb revelation or suddenly being single at the pub.
It’s one of my least favourite days of the year outside of forgetting mother’s day or forgetting father’s day.
So yes, it’s fair to say love stinks.
With that in mind, if your day is filled with self-loathing and that lingering thought that you’ll just end up being the weird guy in his 40’s living in your parent’s basement, then I have JUST the soundtrack for you!
#5 Parkway Drive – Romance Is Dead
Fuck love lyric;
“You wouldn’t know love if it crushed your fucking chest”
Winston McGall leaves little room for ambiguity when it comes to heart break and Killing With A Smile was most popularly remembered for one of the band’s most emotionally intense record. I’m not exactly sure who was responsible for wrenching Winston’s heart from his ribcage and throwing it to the sharks during the writing process but the result was an emotionally turbulent record which is still relevant despite their more recent (and excellent) releases.
#4 Alexisonfire – 44. Calibre Love Letter
Fuck love lyric;
Smile for the camera sweetheart. I really wanna immortalize the moment.
Just remember the first step in forgetting
Is destroying all the evidence.
With friends like you,
Who needs subtext?
Sub. Text. Sub. Text.
(dramatic pause)
This is a .44 caliber love letter straight from my heart.
God you have no idea how hard it was not to put the whole self-titled album here. Oh Dallas. So, if you’re also like me, Dallas Green has been the soundtrack to your break up/s and that is totally a great thing! Because that right there is the voice of an angel, which is a LOT more than you deserved for forgetting Valentine’s day (again) you heartless prick. I can’t even be angry that Dallas left Post Hardcore behind. He’s still so dreamy.
#3 Have Heart – On The Bird in The Cage
Fuck love lyric;
Has the sun finally set on us?
Have you come to long for another’s hand?
There’s a feeling inside me that something’s leaving.
Like someone stealing salt from sea.
I still feel like Boston’s finest sons are still under appreciated for their lyrical prowess and are more often overshadowed by their fierce musicianship. Whilst no doubt worth praising, it’s Patrick Flynn’s imagery and the comparison of the fleeting nature of love to the caged bird is the real source of brutality in this song. Wipe away those tears lads! Circle Pit!
#2 Coheed & Cambria – Welcome Home
Fuck love lyric;
Here laid to rest, is our love ever low
With truth on the shores of confession
You seem to take premise to all of these
Taken from Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness, it is the most epic addition to this list. For those unfamiliar, this album runs as a companion to a graphic novel written by front man/guitarist extraordinaire Claudio Sanchez, and this part of the story in particular traces the betrayal of the protagonists (Claudio The Writer) by his former lover, Erica Court. This leads to a series of delusions resulting in the death of Erica. So he probably wasn’t a particularly great dude either. It’s confusing as shit but a brilliant graphic novel. Also, that guitar section. DAYUM.
#1 Brand New – Jude law & A Semester Abroad
Fuck love lyric;
And even if her plane crashes tonight she’ll find some way to disappoint me,
by not burning in the wreckage, or drowning at the bottom of the sea.
“Jess, I still taste you, thus reserve my right to hate you.”
And all this empty space that you create does nothing for my flawless sense of style.
You’ve always got to hand it to Jesse Lacey, that dude knows how to hurt good. Every album fuels the bitter feud between Lacey’s unchecked ego vs a crippling insecurity and inbetween, a love interest is always lost. Jesse probably sacrifices them each album cycle just for content. The result is amazing. Every. Single. Time. So Jude Law and A Semester abroad is basically the “how to guide” for dealing with the ghosts of relationships past. Jealousy. Self-loathing. Hatred. Remorse. In fact, just keep this whole record spinning, because again, if you’re like me, you’re gonna need this record a LOT.
- Matty W
