Sunday, April 19, 2015

Song Of The Week: 4/19/15







Song: "Unconditional"

Artist: H2O

Album: "Nothing To Prove"

Year: 2008



"Unconditional" is a song that appears to be a typical break-up song. The vocalist sees the relationship as something that should be salvaged, that he and her should work together to overcome their differences and imperfections. His love for her is unconditional. Unfortunately, she does not see it the same way and is ready to end the relationship. She cannot deal with his imperfections and is not willing to continue on without him being who she wants him to be. H2O formed as a band back in 1994, hailing from Manhatten, New York. Lead vocalist, Toby Morse worked as a roadie for legendary New York hardcore band Sick Of It All before deciding to put his own band together. After earning opening spots on tours with Rancid and No Doubt, H2O released their debut album, "H2O", in 1996. This album featured the single "Family Tree". In 1997, the band released "Thicker Than Water", featuring the tracks "Everready" and "Thicker Than Water". The next few years saw the band open for a who's who in the world of punk music, bands such as Murphy's Law, Social Distortion, Misfits, Pennywise, Sick Of It All, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and also earning slots on the Warped Tours. 1999 saw the band drop "F.T.T.W.", spawning the single "One Life One Chance". In 2000, H2O signed with major label MCA Records and in 2001 they released "Go". "Go" featured the songs "Memory Lane" and "Role Model", the latter which is one of the band's most signature songs. 2002 saw the release of the "All We Want" EP. Over the next 6 years, the band did little more than tour but finally, in 2008, they released "Nothing To Prove" through Bridge 9 Records. The band made videos for the songs "What Happened" and "Nothing To Prove". In 2011, H2O released "Don't Forget Your Roots". This was a 15 song album of covers of bands that H2O looked up to such as Rancid, Sick Of It All, Social Distortion and Bad Brains to name a few. Currently, Toby Morse tweeted that H2O will have a new album out called "Was Here". It is going to be distributed by Bridge 9 Records and should be released in 2015. H2O is very much an underground band. They came out around the same time as the west coast skate punk bands like Lagwagon and No Use For A Name but they always seemed to be a tier down from bands like that. They have moments of hardcore punk sound but they also blend in some melodic punk as well, almost like a band such as 7 Seconds does. They dropped 4 albums in a 5 year span, then only 1 from 2002 till present day 2015, not counting their covers album. They're a band that is well respected in punk circles, especially in the New York punk scene, maybe just not as heralded as other bands from that era.

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