NOISE

How has the success of Taking Back Sunday and Brand New influenced the Long Island [New York] scene?

It changed the scene on Long Island in a lot of ways. There were a lot of fans at the time that kind of tried to follow in their footsteps and create music that was similar, but we never tried to follow that. I guess we were taken into the whole scene because we were playing shows with bands that were similar to those bands. So we were put into the whole "emo band" thing, but it was never something that we were really interested in.

Your first album [2004's Lafcadio] was successful right out of the gate, while your second [August's self-titled LP] has been more of a slow builder. In hindsight, is this better?

I think that too much too soon for any band is a bad thing, 'cause you don't learn to appreciate anything. But I'm happy with the growth of this record. I'd like to believe that the people listening to this record are listening for the right reasons. And it's not like As Tall As Lions is a quote-unquote cool band, or the new thing; people are picking up on it themselves, or from a friend ... just a natural progression of more and more people listening to it at a slow but steady pace.

Your lyrics seem to indicate a love/hate relationship with love itself.

Saen [Fitzgerald], our guitarist, actually wrote most of the lyrics on our record ... but everyone in the band was going through something, whether it was a relationship that was going on at the time, or coming to a realization about a past relationship or about themselves. And that definitely became a big part of the record.

• America didn’t hate Simon Cowell yet.

• Justin Timberlake was still in *NSYNC.

• Napster had not begun charging for downloads.

• “Hey Ya,” “Hot in Herre” and “In da Club” were as yet unheard by human ears.

• John Mayer didn’t have a record label.

• Ray Charles, George Harrison, Aaliyah and Johnny Cash were all alive.

• Kanye West was best known as a sometime producer for Beanie Sigel.

• The Pixies weren’t on speaking terms.

• Wilco still hadn’t released Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

• There was no such thing as a MySpace page.

1. Men Without Hats Only if they bring along the little dude from the “Safety Dance” video.

2. The Buggles Would there be Real World/Road Rules Challenge reruns without them? Think about it.

3. Alphaville Just be sure to mop the tears off the dance floor after “Forever Young” to avoid slip-and-fall lawsuits.

4. Falco Who doesn’t still have that spooky spoken-word breakdown in some remote corner of their brain? “1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart becomes a Freemason.”

5. The Georgia Satellites Only because they just might be the worst band. Ever.

With other Panic! members watching from the wings, Urie joined the quintet on the second verse of month-old set closer "I'll Run." He also confirmed that his band has been holed up in a Mt. Charleston house, demoing tracks for their upcoming sophomore effort, the follow-up to 2005 juggernaut A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. "We're about halfway done with the demos," Urie said. "We're keeping them all so far. Every one we've done, we like."

Less than 24 hours after completing the 2007 Epitaph Tour, The Higher's Seth Trotter also made an appearance on Sunday, joining labelmates/headliners The Matches on closing fan favorite "Sick Little Suicide."

Antelope


Reflector (2 1/2 stars)

This Washington, D.C., trio's subdued punk fury ought to sound familiar to Dischord Records listeners: Label head Ian MacKaye, who recorded and mixed the album, employs roughly the same elements—purposeful lyrics, repetitive guitar riffs and muted drumming—with post-post-hardcore outfit The Evens. Except that Antelope's mentor also has the clout to impel us to listen to his message.

Roman Numerals


Roman Numerals (3 stars)

You'd never guess the four members of this Kansas City band started out as a Joy Division tribute act. Well, aside from the angular melodies. Oh, and the dark, druggy imagery. And the gothic, bass-heavy production. Still, a few tunes sound more upbeat and dancey, like, maybe, early New Order? Derivative doesn't always equal bad, though, and these Numerals do have some numbers worth checking out.