Artist Of The Day: There For Tomorrow

By the luck of the shuffle setting on my iTunes, I have recently rekindled the love for the band that used to be my absolute favorite. In 2008, right around when I was just getting into music below the mainstream and before I started this website, I fell in love with a little band called There For Tomorrow. The band's debut single "Pages," was everything I wanted in music at that point — vocalist Maika Maile's voice was powerful, but able to hit a wide range of notes, the instrumentals had the perfect blend of atmosphere and aggression and the hook was enormous. In a time where I was still needing more accessible music, There For Tomorrow allowed me to feel both progressive and underground while catering to my current musical needs.
The group's first EP and album on Hopeless Records (self titled and A Little Faster, respectively) were amongst my favorite releases of 2008 and 2009, and in fact in the depths of the site you may find an extremely mediocre writeup I did on my love for A Little Faster. At my third concert, I was one of relatively few people seeing Anberlin, Scary Kids Scaring Kids and Straylight Run to sing every word to the third opener's six song set. Within a year, I saw them two more times as they expanded both their fanbase and song set. The band felt like something special to me, an impenetrable force that could do nothing wrong. Even the group's remix EP had something to it that I could love, and at a time where I felt remixes were nothing but throwaway, that was saying something.

The band's 2011 album The Verge was a major falling off point for me as a fan. At the time of release, I simply couldn't get into it. I could respect the improvement both vocally and instrumentally as the band moved towards a bigger stadium rock sound, but the songwriting just felt off. Nearly every hook fell flat, and for a band that's best characteristic had been their explosive hooks, that was a major no-no. A mediocre new song and lack of touring after the release of the record ended the hype of the band both for me as well as many of their other fans.

In recent weeks, I've noticed myself coming back to the band's entire discography, including The Verge.  While tracks like "Get It" and "Stopwatch Affair" still haven't grown on me, the stronger Verge tracks such as "BLU" and "Slip Inside (The Barrel Of Your Gun)" have recently become some of my favorite tracks by the band, a statement that the 2011 me would have found blasphemous. A Little Faster surprisingly remains amongst my favorite albums of 2009, and whether nostalgia plays a role in that or not doesn't bother me a bit. This band has outlasted nearly every other one of my old favorites, so maybe I had somewhat of a reasonable opinion of the band when I thought they'd be one of my all time favorites. They may not end up that way, but they'll always remain an important part of my musical progression. The band has lately been posting updates on the recording of a new LP, and I'm still excited to hear what they have. Be sure to keep up with them on Facebook for news regarding this record.