Top 5 Thursday #9: Top 5 Melodic HC Records

By Ryan Germ and Scott Danshaw
 After a long hiatus throughout the past almost 2 months, Top 5 Thursday has returned and we’re back with a moderately loud bang. We’re coming at ya with a T5T that I’m quite frankly shocked we haven’t done. It’s none other than our top 5 favorite melodic HC records. No, I’m not counting Youth Crew records because that’s its own thing despite it laying the foundation for melodic HC and I’m saving that for a rainy day. There’s bound to be some heaters on here so what are we waiting for? Let’s dive right in.

Scotty D’s List:

First of all it feels good to be back. Had some technical issues and needed a new phone. I’m baaack.

1. Lifetime - Jerseys Best Dancers: Do I really need to write a paragraph? These guys epitomize “melodic hardcore”. All I have to say is out of their discography I had a hard time picking my favorite, each one represents an aspect of the genre but this one is definitely that middle ground blending pop sensibilities with punk rock furiosity. Lifetime is melodic hardcore.
2. Kid Dynamite - Shorter Faster Louder: I’m kinda cheating here because I’m going to say read our top 5 PA hardcore bands if you wanna hear my love of all Dan Yemin’s bands especially KD but the guy really pioneered the genre with his guitar playing. Anyways shorter faster louder showcases that poppier more punk oriented side of melodic hardcore perfectly. Singalongs and circle pits with 2 step part breakdowns at its absolute finest.
3. Front Page - Still Learning: Okay so 99.9% of you are like “Who?” All I’m gonna say is listen to me, before the pop punk band Man Overboard Zac, Justin, & Wayne had this band called Front Page and they were awesome! You can see the early workings of what would become the pop punk powerhouse Man Overboard in these short emo/melodic hardcore songs. This record is a front to back BANGER and same with their prior ep Still Learning but that one isnt as easy to track down. 10/10. Also Listen to Zac’s new band Chew Toy if you like some poppy garage punk.
4. Comeback Kid - Wake The Dead: Need I say more? You all already know how good it is I’ve gushed over it a number of times. It’s a near perfect record abd if you haven’t learned by now to take good old Scotty D’s word for it go listen to it and shoot me a DM on how right I was.
5. Last Lights - No Past No Present No future: RIP Dominic Mallory.

Ryan Germ’s List:

1. Have Heart - Songs To Scream At The Sun: I’m getting this out of the way immediately because it’s so obvious. It’s posi whilst still being a little dark, the choruses of each track hit, the sing-a-longs are good. I admit I could’ve put The Things We Carry on here. But the stories of the impact this record has had uniting heavy HC kids with the punk kids, I think that influence alongside the quality of this record makes it a shoe in for this list.
2. Title Fight - The Last Thing You Forget: Some people would call this pop punk. But those people are slow. It’s fast, catchy, fun, and emotional. The 2 step parts are solid, as are the side to side parts, and this record lays the foundation of one of the most foundational bands of the 2010’s. Whenever ya boy is sad but doesn’t wanna listen to Watching From A Distance or some other shit that’ll make me cry my eyes out I’m putting this on. Lyrics are emotional yet the record puts you in a pretty positive mood.
3. American Nightmare - We’re Down Til We’re Underground: I was just about to put Background Music on this list, then I relistened to this for the first time in a couple years since it had my favorite AN song on it and I wanted to give it a fair chance. Since maturing and aging since the last time I’ve heard the record in full I think AEIOU might be the best AN song and one of the most well written HC songs. The whole record is close to that well written for the most part and instrumentally it’s great. It captures an energy hard to explain, one melancholic that most emo bands fail to capitalize on. So yeah this is a shoe in for this list.
4. CIV - Set Your Goals: On the opposite end of the spectrum we have the most posi HC record to ever posi. Every song never fails to just put me in a great mood. It’s like the HC version of that one New Radicals song. I mean for fucks sake multiple songs of theirs on this record was in Scooby Doo! If that doesn’t make you love em even more then I don’t know what to tell you. I’m still kind of bummed I bailed on their reunion show this year to go watch wrestling, but I will see Gorilla Biscuits soon which is a plus.
5. Angel Du$t - A.D.: This record is fast, catchy, and fun with a nice tinge of that indie punk shit that I love. The breakdown to Stepping Stone is a great one, I love Set Me Up, Squeeze is an indie punk track which is fucking perfect, Poison rips. There’s so much more I can say about this record but go listen to it for yourself. It’s a quick listen at around only 14 minutes