In the late 90's, I listened to mp3.com like five hundred times a day. It was like an iTunes situation where anyone could put music up and make money off of it. For the viewer, you got free mp3s from awesome indie bands! Eventually they had to shut down because it was too good of an idea to have bands submit their own music and sell CD's and mp3s (also because of some dickhead music industry bastards got mad when they tried to be spotify before spotify was a twinkle in some rich kid's eye). Also, they had to close because even my high school band could make money on there and that should not have been the case.

Anyways.... By A Thread were one of the emo darlings of mp3.com. Well, at least that's how nostalgia paints it in my mind. These silly Canadians were right on the verge of the emo explosion and are the perfect blend of hardcore and emotion. Overdriven vocals with the veins in your neck sticking out, layered over distortion and driving hardcore rhythms. The head bobbing kind of rhythms and the melodramatic lyrics like "Something came between us and I'll be there for you." Emo kids always had a hard time with relationships didn't they?

Eventually, By A Thread went on to join the hardcore mega-label Revelation records, which made a lot of sense. More sense than having a 7" that's 33 1/3 rpm on one side and 45 on the other, that's for sure. The B-side is definitely trying a lot harder than the A-side, but that's not necessarily a good thing. A cheesy lyric like "My own illusions are contained, my own illusions hold me but I feel them, I feel." can't be sung by a human adult without your manly hardcore voice going all middle school on you, squeaking and breaking while you try to sound tough. There's nothing really special about this track, so just keep your record player on 33 1/3 and revel in the late 90's emo sadness of the first two tracks.

If you like this review, you can buy me a coffee.