sidsphotos: sand dunes

brand new - sic transit gloria

Formed on Long Island, NY, Brand New appeared on the punk-pop scene in 2000. Consisting of drummer Brian Lane, vocalist/guitarist Jesse Lacey, bassist Garrett Tierney, and guitarist Vin Accardi, the band began making a name for itself on the local scene with a self-released four-song demo and shows with bands like Midtown and Glassjaw. In 2001, they issued their first record, Your Favorite Weapon, on Triple Crown. Lacey's clever and cutting lyrics sprinkled the album, which produced the semi-hit "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad," and more touring with Taking Back Sunday and Finch followed. Proving to be more than just another punk-pop band, the group made something of a stylistic leap with Deja Entendu, a decidedly matured follow-up, recorded with Steve Haigler (Pixies, Blake Babies) and released in summer 2003. Music videos for "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" and "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades" found constant airplay on MTV, while earning Brand New slots with A New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, Dashboard Confessional, and blink-182. www.fightoffyourdemons.com

down - bury me in smoke

hidden in plain view - bleed

Hidden in Plain View consisted of vocalist Joe Reo, guitarists Rob Freeman and Mike Saffert, drummer Spencer Peterson, and bassist Chris Amato. Forming out of high school, the New Jersey combo gigged regionally before debuting on wax with 2002's self-released Operation Cut-Throat LP. The album did well enough to get the attention of West Coast punk-pop powerhouse Drive-Thru, who signed Hidden in Plain View in early 2003. The band's first release for the label was a self-titled EP recorded with the aid of Early November helmer Chris Badami; it was followed by a full-length and extensive touring in spring 2004. www.hiddeninplainview.com

The Honorary Title - bridge & tunnel

Brooklynbased duo The Honorary Title formed around vocalist/lyricist/guitarist Jarrod Gorbel and bassist/multiinstrumentalist Aaron Kamstra circa 2002. Taking the soulbaring narrative quality of bands like Dashboard Confessional, the two presented it on an indie rock canvas of gentle acoustics and oftendark humor. Gorbel began playing guitar at thirteen, while growing up in the suburbs of Long Island, NY. Following college, he began playing solo gigs around downtown spots like The Knitting Factory, The Mercury Lounge, and CBGBs before hooking up with Kamstra, an NYC transplant from Indiana, and christening themselves The Honorary Title. Combining influences that include Elvis Costello, Jeff Buckley, and Bright Eyes, their melodic hooks containing Kamstra's piano parts and Gorbel's soaring, raw voice soon caught the attention of Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba; he personally chose them as openers for his band on a series of dates in the fall of 2002. Before long, the warmup slot had sparked label interest, and the band eventually signed with the Ohiobased indie, Doghouse Records, in September 2003. A selftitled EP featuring only Gorbel appeared in late 2003, but they issued their debut album, Anything Else But the Truth, as a duo the next summer. The Honorary Title joined The Format for a fall tour supporting Switchfoot before hooking up with Lucero the next summer. The band also shared stages over time with a range of acts including From Autumn to Ashes, Straylight Run, Secret Machines, and Taking Back Sunday. A brief headlining tour in February 2006 with Limbeck led up to the reissue of their debut (with five bonus tracks and two music videos) later that month. The group also features touring members Jon Wiley (keyboards/guitar) and Adam Boyd (drums). www.thehonorarytitle.com

Mewithoutyou - Paper Hanger

mewithoutYou found their heavy rock snarl when they formed in 2000. Brothers Aaron and Michael Weiss, who both grew up listening to Jawbox and Burning Airlines, formerly fronted the hard rock act the Operation with guitarist Christopher Kleinberg. The band was short-lived, leaving mewithoutYou to come together with bass player Daniel Pishock and drummer Richard Mazzotta. Tooth & Nail was taken by the fiery five-piece's raw appeal and inked them a deal. mewithoutYou released their debut, [A--> B] Life, in summer 2002. The band's sophomore effort, Catch for Us the Foxes, followed in late 2004. www.mewithoutyou.com

my morning jacket - the way that he sings

My Morning Jacket is a four-piece band from Louisville, KY, built solidly around the vocal and songwriting talent of group leader Jim James. Their sound is lonesome, haunting, almost classic country at times, and that voice -- Jim James' voice shares the same section of that old country highway with the familiar sounds of Neil Young, yet sounds right at home here in the world of independent American pop music, alongside contemporary singers like the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and Galaxie 500's Dean Wareham. Like Galaxie 500, My Morning Jacket weaves songs and sounds together perfectly -- underneath the big open sky filled with bright stars of course -- never allowing the heavy reverb (and the reverb is definitely heavy) to subtract anything from the visual lyrics, or from the simple beauty of the songs themselves. www.mymorningjacket.com

straylightrun - ext on prom night

Straylight Run Biography: In April of 2003 Shaun Cooper asked his friend John Nolan, "Do you want to commit career suicide?" "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," John replied, and one month later Straylight Run began. But while Shaun and John agreed on the concept of abandoning everything they had known to form a new band, they were only two people with an idea for a band, and no actual band yet. They had some songs though, and with some help from their friend Mark O‘Connell on the drums, they recorded demo versions with John on lead vocals, guitar and piano and Shaun on bass guitar. The songs they recorded laid out a blueprint for the bands sound: piano and guitar based pop songs that would incorporate samples, drum loops and interesting sounds wherever possible. www.straylightrun.com

thursday - cross out the eyes

Soul-baring post-hardcore quartet Thursday formed in New Brunswick, NJ, in 1997. Led by vocalist Geoff Rickly, the band also included guitarists Steve Pedulla and Tom Keeley, bassist Tim Payne, and drummer Tucker Rule. After releasing their debut, Waiting, in 1999 (through N.Y.-based indie Eyeball), the band signed to Chicago's influential Victory label for 2001's Full Collapse, and toured with acts like Boy Sets Fire and Sparta in support of the effort. Thursday's frequent gigging and furious passion fueled a grassroots response, and by 2002, the band was on the main stage of the Warped Tour and enjoying radio and MTV support of its single "Understanding in a Car Crash." The quintet signed to Island in the wake of its breakthrough success, and issued the 2002 live EP Five Stories Falling through Victory as a placeholder for its eventual major-label debut. The ambitious song arc of War All the Time dropped in September 2003. The album was met with considerable critical acclaim for its ruminations on 9/11, its poetic, personal lyrics, and a wildly shifting, kitchen-sink approach to pensive post-hardcore. www6.thursday.net