Welcome to Ear 2 Da Sky! Each week, I will be going over topics within music culture and reviewing albums and EPs across genres, eras and artists that are submitted by readers like you, and listeners of my radio show, ear 2 da ground, every Wednesday at 11 p.m. on WHUS 91.7 FM! While sick and rotting in my bed, I laid down and listened to Modern Baseball’s “You’re Gonna Miss It All.”
Two years after their debut album, “You’re Gonna Miss It All” was released on Feb. 11, 2014. It clocks in at 29 minutes, which spans across 12 songs. The four members wrote the entire album during their time at college and still managed to find monumental success with the project. This is definitely a testament to their ability to juggle school, life and passions.
“Fine, Great” opens with lead vocalist Brendan Lukens setting the scene for the listener with angsty confessions, “I hate worrying about the future / ‘Cause all my current problems are based around the past / And I hate when you call me late at night / Just to check in to make sure I got nothing to be sad about.” The band leads the listener through Lukens’ time being led on by a girl and how he’s absolutely sick of it.
On “Broken Cash Machine,” Jacob Ewald takes over lead vocals, continuing with the poetically written angst. He reflects on failed relationships, the existentialism of where he’s been in life versus where he is now and how they intertwine with each other. The chorus also expands on this introspection, “Oh, why did I do that? / Why does everything collapse? / Even when it’s glued together.”
In the topic submission for this article, it was said that this is “one of those albums people are like ‘Dude this is so college’ about and I’m kinda like, lowkey yeah.” I think this is both hilarious and true. It definitely sits in the back of your mind throughout this whole project. Ironically, it feels the most prevalent in the most popular track from the album, “Your Graduation,” a song about high school graduation.
The song features vocals from Lukens and drummer Sean Huber. They spend two minutes and 43 seconds singing about the inevitable post-graduation drifting. I feel as though this is one of the “this is so college” songs on here because I think a lot of us on campus can relate to it in some sort of way.
Many of us have been on the two-way street that is a relationship, whether that’s a friendship or a romantic relationship, ultimately drifting apart. It sucks. But it’s a part of growing up and moving on to new things, whether we like it or not. In Lukens’ case, it’s letting go of a toxic partner in his life, so there are pros and cons to post-graduation drifting.
Modern Baseball’s “You’re Gonna Miss It All” is a fun indie, pop punk and emo album that will evoke different feelings depending on where you’re at in life. It’s a short listen yet it brings you on an emotional journey, through relationships — both good and bad — as well as wasted time, the past, the present and the future.
I write this without any intention of negativity: If you want to overthink and maybe spiral a little bit about your life for 29 minutes out of your day, give this album a listen. It was fun for me, at least.
Rating: 3/5
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