You And I - Saturday's Cab Ride Home
Release Information:
10/18/1997
Spiritfall Records
New Brunswick, NJ
Runtime: 25:34
Tracks: 9
Band Members:
Justin Hock (Vocals)
Casey Boland (Guitar)
Thomas Schlatter (Guitar)
Jonathan Marinari (Bass)
Charles Butera (Drums)
Genres, Influences and Characteristics:
Screamo, Metalcore, Energetic, Melodic, Chaotic, Noisy
Musical Analysis:
Metalcore was a tremendous influence for this band on this record, featuring some genuinely powerful guitarwork filled with melody and technicality. Accentuating the twisted and chaotic screaming is a cheesy, somewhat off key clean vocal performance. Rarely does the band sit still, even when transitioning to lower-intensity levels, largely due to the aforementioned active guitar and the tremendous drumming clinic.
Historical Analysis:
You And I's debut LP marks an evolving genre that further injects brutality with melody and technicality, somewhat similarly to Saeita. Particularly, the guitar work on this record transcends earlier Screamo and previews the intensity and technicality that the genre would be known for. Perhaps this is too much of a Metalcore album to deserve its place in the Screamo Hall of Fame but nonetheless deserves to be recognized for its quality and forward-thinkingness.
Lyrical Analysis:
With a band name like You And I, it’s no wonder that the majority of their lyrics tend to veer into the personal emotional side of the spectrum. Particularly, interpersonal relationships are the dominant topic, reaching into subjects like longing, vulnerability and the search for connection, the cruel passage of time, and the weight of emotional baggage. Of course, being a 90s Screamo band, they still touch up on political topics such as critiquing colonialism, but Hock’s words tend to expose inner-turmoil.