News Tell All Your Friends - A Decade Under The Influence Of Taking Back Sunday

During a recent trip home, a well meaning friend made the mistake of asking what I was listening to. I answered him honestly, as is always the best policy when it comes to these things: Taking Back Sunday. ‘Taking Back Sunday,’ he says, ‘You’re really still listening to that stuff?’ Yes. Yes, I am. And I’ll tell you why.

‘She said, ‘Don’t let it go to your head, boys like you are a dime a dozen.”

And they are. It’s 2002 and fresh off the success of bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral and more, the Long Island scene is filled to bursting: bands like Taking Back Sunday are everywhere.

Originally formed by Eddie Reyes (of The Movielife, Mind Over Matter and Inside) and Jesse Lacey following the split of The Rookie Lot, John Nolan is the next member to join, resulting in Lacey’s subsequent switch to bass. Throw in One True Thing’s Antonio Longo on vocals and the initial line up of our protagonists is born.

Somewhere during the recording of their debut EP, Jesse Lacey ups sticks and leaves to form Brand New with Brian Lane from his former band. Left a bassist short, Nolan contacts his friend Adam Lazzara and before he knows it, Lazzara is living in his garage, working at Reyes’ dad’s deli to pay the bills. A subsequent switch of frontmen later leaves Lazzara centre stage and sees the band take on a whole new lease of life, producing their first track together as what we now recognise as today’s Taking Back Sunday ‘Great Romances Of The 20th Century’. Barely into their twenties and on the verge of something massive, the sheer excitement is almost audible.

‘I couldn’t be more excited to celebrate our anniversary of ‘Tell All Your Friends’…’ Eddie Reyes enthuses to DIY. ‘Can’t believe it’s been ten years already.’

You see, ‘Tell All Your Friends’ was where it all started. Youth-fuelled, melodramatic and full of lyrics as ridiculous as the song’s titles might suggest, it’s a full album’s worth of the self-obsessed, egocentric dramas of teenage life. ‘I can’t say I blame you but I wish that I could.’

We’ve all been in those situations. We’ve all sincerely believed that the world was about to end because of some minor mishap we’ve made at school. And that’s what this album is about. And that, more to the point, is what it’s for.

Listening back to ‘Tell All Your Friends’ as an adult is nowhere near as much fun. The sense of self-importance has lessened (arguably, I know), we’re aware now that whatever relationship drama or emotional crisis we’re having probably isn’t going to have an impact on anything in the long run, and that, yes, the world will keep turning. But sometimes, just sometimes, it’s ok to forget that. And those are the times that Taking Back Sunday come into their element.

With their impossibly exaggerated lyrics and dramatic melodies, Taking Back Sunday and their latest self-titled release are back where they belong; safely inside my CD player.

A band’s debut release is often a training ground for a group still finding their feet, and ‘Tell All Your Friends’ is no different. Potential is the main ingredient here. Potential is what will get you through the likes of ‘Ghost Man On Third’ or ‘Head Club’. Without those tracks, would Taking Back Sunday be Louder Now? Would they be Where You Want To Be? (Sorry, sorry) Probably not, no. The reality is that there are some great songs on this record, singles ‘You’re So Last Summer’, ‘Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team)’ and ‘Great Romances Of The 20th Century’ are stand out moments, but in truth, and as is perhaps preferable for a band of their ilk, their best work was yet to come.

‘You know what comes next and so do I.’

A decade on and Taking Back Sunday circa ‘Tell All Your Friends’ are back together. Releasing a self-titled LP last year, the band are set to headline this year’s Slam Dunk festival in May and I, for one, cannot wait.

Speaking about having the band back in their rightful places, Reyes says, ‘Also, reuniting with my old brothers to make some rock music together again – it feels good to have the original line up back together and it’s just a good feeling all around. John and Shaun bring so much to Taking Back Sunday.

‘When we wrote ‘TAYF’, I knew something special was happening…’ he concludes, ‘So here we are, old men, still touring and doing what we love to do: playing music, writing music and keep keeping on…’

And it’s that something special that not only brought the band together through a series of often unfortunate events but created a following that demanded their return nearly a decade later.

‘Tell All Your Friends’ was not their more commercially successful venture nor was it their most critically acclaimed but it was their first and for many people, myself include, it was a real eye-opener. Music doesn’t have to be serious, it doesn’t have to be proper and certainly doesn’t have to have sensible titles. So please do tell all your friends, I’ve spent a decade under the influence of Taking Back Sunday, and ten years to the day since their debut album’s release, I’m going to makedamnsure that I play them louder now than ever before.