Piss Me Off

I've been meaning to check him out for ages and your post served as a great reminder, especially as it obviously means a lot to you. Wasn't disappointed at all, ranks as some of the best and most ecclectic mixing i've heard i. It reminded me of a less novelty-ridden version of DJ Yoda, where there's actually some tunes you'll come back and listen to on their own accord.

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anticipation

Track listing:

Rubber Sidewalks
Hello Moon
Relax and Adapt
Let's Go Off On A Tangent
Snail Trails
Do You Ever Wish You Could Breathe Underwater?
But It Felt So Real
Untitled #1
Untitled #2

Make Me was a short lived band from New Brunswick, New Jersey that existed from 2004-2006. They recorded one demo tape, a split with Black Juju, and a three song ep. One of their members went on to form Boy Problems, but the entire band had a direct influence on Street Smart Cyclist, Algernon Cadwallader, Storm The Bastille, The Lady Is Not For Burning, and pretty much every single band to come out of Bethlehem, Lancaster, or Philadelphia, PA. They were the greatest emo band to have ever formed, and their music is so fucking beautiful to my ears that sometimes I can't even stand it. They make me want to jump and shout and sing and scream at the top of my lungs. When I'm sad they make me euphoric, when I'm happy they make me insane. They stand at the gates of skramz heaven, and along with Tunes For Bears To Dance To, Harrison Bergeron, and Tiny Hawks they are the most well loved band in skramz today. All of this fuss is over these 9 songs, these 9 poorly recorded, musically unremarkable, technically flawed and immature songs.

I'm probably not alone when I say that Make Me was the band that got me interested in screamo, and I'm certain that I am not the only one who semi-worships everything they've gone on to do. Make Me's music is the earliest example of blending today's twinkly indiemo with intense Jerome's Dream style skramz. They played with no distortion, yet they could achieve heaviness to rival that of Capsule or even Furnace. Their performances were brief affairs, but they packed so much emotion and passion into each song that people were left sweating after only 3 minutes. Now I'm sure that anyone reading this is just assuming that this is all hyperbole, just a young man blowing this band's influence and music way out of proportion. That may be so, but I don't care. Make Me might be my favorite band of all time, and it only took them 9 songs to become so.

Make Me's sound is hard to describe, because they were young and inexperienced they had no real technical knowledge or basic skill on their instruments. Some may take this as a sign that the music is worthless or bad, but not I. I see it as a testament to the fact that music is about how much you love it, now how good you are at making it. Two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, and one hell of a screamer made Make Me's music unforgettable.

Rubber Sidewalks has Danny screaming his heart out, with group vocals also making an appearance. Short but sweet, the 3:15 goes by so quickly that you don't know what to think. Greg and Eric noodle around on their guitars while Chris and Evan anchor the whole thing with wild drumming and groovy bass licks. Hello Moon starts out with a heavy breakdown and blastbeats, before devolving into a macabre jam sesh. One of their best songs, hello moon has some of the best guitar work the band ever did, and the dual screaming is intense. I swear that these guys have some of the best screams I've ever heard, and that's no small feat. Chris really shows off his bass lines in hello moon, as the guitars take a backseat to his playing. Halfway through this 6 minute epic, a sample from Garden State marks the transition from slow jam to a jumbled mess drives you up and up and up and up until finally culminating in a lightning fast breakdown with the whole band going nuts.


Relax and Adapt starts out more technical, with fingerpicking in the background and intertwining bass and guitar strumming. They it starts to bounce with a heavy melody and jumping rhythm. Make Me shows their softer side in relax and adapt, and danny's softer vocals shine through like an angel, at least until he breaks out the brutal growling. Let's Go Off On A Tangent begins my favorite little streak of their songs, and it's musically one of their best. Alternating between sing-screamy vocals and rapidfire guitar work, you're left to just scream along in joy.


Pretty horrible quality, but fuck you if you can't take a little fuzz.

Snail Trails is a quintessential make me jam. From beginning to end it ****ing rips your soul to shreds, it's just too much. Capping off snail trails is some clip from an old movie with free jazz in the background, providing the perfect transition. Do You Ever Wish You Could Breathe Underwater? is in my top five all time great songs, of any genre, ever. As soon as you hear danny scream:

Tongue tied around my neck
Tongue tripping on my lips
Boy, I feel just like a kid
Like a kid

Do you like me, do you like me?
My feelings are hiding in a pile of leaves
Kicking wishing, wishing kicking
I was the


your heart leaps into your throat and you get tears in your eyes. Some of the best lyrics not written by billy werner (ha!), danny's heartfelt words are stuck in my head till the end of time.

Did you ever wish that you could breathe underwater?
Sink like a rock and lying on the bottom of pools staring up?
Re-fractured fingers and swollen thumbs
Playing with the pitter patter
Standing on tops of tippy toes
And then my eyelashes explode

The end of the song you can't help but scream along, "FROM EAR, TO EAR ,TO EAR TO EAR TO EAR!"

But It Felt So Real has stringy guitars and a decidedly alt-rock feel to it that I love. Sounding more like a late 90s college rock band, the boys maintain their skramz intensity throughout. Untitled #1 is dancey and races through itself. Clapping and group vocals are what really stand out about this unreleased track. Danny is on his game as usual, and the shoegazey parts made famous by Dawn Treader have a cameo in this song too. The band slows down and jams while danny's screaming "WE'RE ONLY KIDS, WE'RE ONLY KIDS PLAYING WITH OURSELVES". Untitled #2 is 52 of country style licks and ends make me's discography on a light note, until you realize that that's it. Make Me's music is over and the bummer sets in.

I don't have anything else to say, just that make me is the reason that I love skramz. Nothing before or since even comes close to their brand of music, and I feel lucky to have been alive during their existance.

Son of JayJamJah

Nice to see Magic Sam recognized and good write-up. To your question of his Legacy compared to the notorious great Bluesman. It was circumstances and timing I think. While he was very talented to be sure, he was not the first, not the most successful and not the most prolific of any year or era. He doesn't have a seminal hit or album and just as his popularity for the first time he went to jail and after making a comeback of sorts five or so years after he died young of a heart attack.

He is still very highly regarded by those who follow the scene I believe though and obviously his music is still finding people as you have it despite having been born 20 years after he died.

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