PW's Song Of The Week: SONG OF THE WEEK: 3-12-2023

SONG: "Cute Without The 'E'"

ARTIST: Taking Back Sunday

ALBUM: "TAYF10 Acoustic"

YEAR: 2013

PLACE OF ORIGIN: Long Island, New York

YEARS ACTIVE: 1999 - present

WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

Here's what Taking Back Sunday lead singer Adam Lazzara had to say about "Cute Without The 'E'". "The lyrics came from a relationship that I’d just gotten out of at the time. There was a diner near where we used to live and we’d trade notebooks amongst the band. We’d highlight the stuff that really stuck out to us, which is similar to how we do it now. We were just going back and forth and that’s how we pieced it together. I was 18 at the time, and every relationship feels like the be all and end all at that age. At that time you’ve only seen so much of the world, so your view is pretty narrow, and I think the song is a good reflection of that." The version I chose is an acoustic version of the song. The original can be found on Taking Back Sunday's 2002 album "Tell All Your Friends".

TAKING BACK SUNDAY DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2002 - Tell All Your Friends (Victory Records)

* peaked at #183 on the Billboard 200 on 3-26-02

* certified gold

2004 - Where You Want To Be (Victory Records)

* peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 on 7-27-04

* certified gold

2006 - Louder Now (Warner Bros. Records)

* peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 on 4-25-06

* certified gold

2007 - Louder Now: Part Two (Warner Bros. Records)

* did not chart on the Billboard 200

2009 - New Again (Warner Bros. Records)

* peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 on 6-2-09

2009 - Live From Bamboozle '09 (Warner Bros. Records)

* did not chart on the Billboard 200

2010 - Live From Orensanz (Warner Bros. Records)

* did not chart on the Billboard 200

2011 - Taking Back Sunday (Warner Bros. Records)

* peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200 on 6-2-09

2013 - TAYF10 Acoustic (Sorry Records)

* did not chart on the Billboard 200

2014 - Happiness Is (Hopeless Records)

* peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 on 3-18-14

2016 - Tidal Wave (Hopeless Records)

* peaked at #36 on the Billboard 200 on 9-16-16

MY THOUGHTS ON TAKING BACK SUNDAY:

Taking Back Sunday formed as a band back in 1999, hailing from Long Island, New York. One of the original band members was actually Jesse Lacey who went on to form Brand New. The departure of Lacey wasn't a great one as the two bands have held a grudge against each other for years. Taking Back Sunday recorded a demo that eventually fell into the hands of the people at Victory Records who decided to sign the band. Their debut album dropped in 2002 called "Tell All Your Friends". Taking Back Sunday started generating major buzz after this album. Unfortunately, in fighting amongst band members caused guitarist John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper to depart the band. Guitarist Fred Mascherino and bassist Matt Rubano took their places for the recording of the band's sophomore effort, 2004's "Where You Want To Be". Taking Back Sunday's trajectory was on the upward swing after this release. Major labels came calling and eventually the band signed with Warner Bros. Their major label debut, 2006's "Louder Now" was their highest charting album, peaking at #2 and the single "MakeDamnSure" is arguably their most popular and successful single. Taking Back Sunday's relationship with Warner Bros. continued for another four years during which time they dropped two more studio albums, 2009's "New Again" and 2011's "Taking Back Sunday", as well as three live albums. In 2011, the band signed a deal with Hopeless Records who released their 2014 album "Happiness Is" and their most recent release, 2016's "Tidal Wave". Taking Back Sunday is a melodic, pop, rock type band. Some put them in the pop punk category and there are elements of that in some of their songs. Their songwriting is quite catchy. In 2010, the "Tell All Your Friends" line-up got back together and stayed that way up until 2018 when Eddie Reyes departed the band. Taking Back Sunday seems to be the band that ushered in a bunch of these poppy and melodic rock bands in the 2000's like The Academy Is and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, etc. I don't think any of those bands represent the genre better than Taking Back Sunday does. I actually got into these guys more on their second album "Where You Want To Be". To this day, that's still my favorite overall album by Taking Back Sunday. It's been quiet on the new music front for the band but they are embarking on a summer tour in 2023 so they're still out there and active. We need some new tunes though boys!!

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

The Used

Brand New

Senses Fail

Thursday

The Starting Line

TEN TAKING BACK SUNDAY SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Cute Without The 'E' (acoustic version)

2. MakeDamnSure

3. A Decade Under The Influence

4. Your Own Disaster (acoustic version)

5. Flicker, Fade