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This Band Invented Emo Twinkle Titles (Script Only)

  • Writer: Sam Koosk
    Sam Koosk
  • Feb 17, 2020
  • 5 min read

Updated: Feb 24, 2023

This is a script without a video yet. I may make the video next month due to how life is at the moment. There may be more pieces like this or pieces without videos in the future. With that being said, the file you're reading now looks back on a band from Allston, Massachusetts. Unlike the first file, this band is a detail for the artists in this band since they have moved to other projects today. Information on the project and members did not need the internet archives. This band is no other than the band Dæphne.


Welcome back to 4x4 Notes, it's Koosk. If you're wondering where I've been, routine takes time and planning around things also does that. With that being said this may become a video in March. Today we're going modern with this file. We're not looking 20 years in the past, not even 10. Try 6 years in the past. On top of that we're also looking at the Emo and Indie scenes which are more relatable to the fellow kids™. Forget record deals leading to MTV shows, we're looking at more familiar pieces.


Let's go back to 2014. A few months before this band's first demo EP (I could find online at the moment,) the worst time to use the MBTA happened. Earthfest hosted by Radio 9.29 hyping up Neon Tree's return and holding one of the last Venetia Fair shows before they broke up the next year, Youth Pride 2014, and the final Zombie March. You can imagine the street pastors did not know who or what to protest. It was a time to live in the Boston metropolitan area. Now let's take it to Allston. The college, eco, and a place that has more than five venues district. We have a band called Dæphne but it's 2014 so they use an "æ" instead of "ae." Funeral Sounds Records dropped their first EP of demos on July 4th. Then Too Far Gone released Full Circle on November 3rd, 2015. I'd say this is their most well known album. After that in 2017 the band released their last EP on 4/20. Nice.


At the moment I would say there is a chance this band is like a Creeper or My Chemical Romance. We don't exactly know if in 2025-2030 we're getting a comeback EP, the band is just dead right now for good reasons. Mainly because there's more than 5 projects collectively under everyone not counting their first lead singer. The original members consist of Alexa Johnson on vocals, Julian Berosh on drums, Larz Brogan on bass and vocals, and Ryan Higgins on guitar. Johnson provided vocals for Family Vacation Demo (2014) and Full Circle (2015), Brogan provided vocals for Pondhopper (2017). On April 6th, 2015 Johnson left the band due to moving out of the area and needed time to take care of her mental health. Gia Greene filled in as a vocalist during the Full Circle era on tour before Brogan took over vocals. In 2017, the band decided to call "it quits for the time being" due to the members' other projects. Lars Brogan is currently the drummer of DUMP HIM and bassist of Palehound who are both prominent bands today. Julian Berosh and Ryan Higgins have a band called Honeymooner together that released an EP in 2017. Other than that Higgins is in a band called Banana and Berosh has a solo project under Drama Club Romance. If you're wondering about Alexa Johnson, she has no known projects as of late until someone corrects me in the comments. According to Band Fanzine, a friend of the band there are more projects that the members are or were involved with post Dæphne.


Due to where this band branches off to, I thought this would make a good file to add to the channel. Today a good chunk of people know who DUMP HIM and Palehound are if they listen to Indie or Pop Punk music. When it comes to Berosh and Higgins' projects, most people may not know those and have a new artist or band to look up. Either way this band is a root to so many other bands big and small. Unlike my first file, this is a reverse funnel of information. It's not all these fragments making a story. This band is a fragment that is a part of four artist's experience in creating music and touring.


Today you can hear their music on Bandcamp and Too Far Gone still sells Full Circle. Their music was on Spotify in the past but not anymore. Band Fanzine's video on their discography is where people in recent times who stumbled onto this band learn more about them. If you want to hear the other projects, most are at least on Bandcamp and Spotify if not the other sites. Banana released an EP in 2019 called Post-Grunge Revival which is available on Bandcamp and Spotify released under King Pizza Records. They are also playing a show on February 23rd with Glambat at O'Brien's in Allston. Drama Club Romance is both available on Bandcamp and Spotify, maybe the others. Honeymooner is just on Bandcamp from what I know. DUMP HIM and Palehound are also on Bandcamp and Spotify, probably the rest of the streaming services as well. Thank you for hearing this one out, hope you have a lovely day.



A segment made up of mini reviews that would be added in the video.


-Family Vacation Demo is the shoegaze twinkle starting point that is captivating. My favorite songs are the middle ones (especially What Summer Felt Like Behind Your Bedroom Door) since they drive the EP home. It starts off slow, picking up then ending on a solid note with Miscalculating Future Experiences. Also Driving Down a Country Highway Blasting Weezer invented the typical Twinkle Emo song title. 4/5


- Full Circle is a haunting album. Usually I hear this in full without really pinpointing the tracks due to having the record. Everytime I play it I have to be in a sad mood because of its nature. It's the kind of shoegaze emo that's emo. It's your Hospital Bracelet and Thank You, I'm Sorry kind of Twinkle when it comes to the mood. Tiny Flame always catches me off guard when dropping the needle and have to say Peach is my favorite looking through bandcamp and clicking on random songs to see which ones I was actually listening to. It's an album I'm happy I found and an easy listen with hard hitting lyrics. My favorite records to spin are on the softer side so if you find that orange circle anywhere, you won't regret buying it. The pressing is not a bad one and isn't initially warped (it may be if its a used copy though). 8.6/10


- Pondhopper is more energetic than their first two releases. Brogan's vocals are less like Johnson's smooth shoe-gazy voice but rather raspy and mercurial. Apparently an interview with the Allston Pudding said she's a Gemini Venus/Sagittarius Rising combo and Venus rules over the throat and she most likely has a Capricorn second house which may make her voice more strained, flat, and direct sounding based off of astrology. I guess astrology is right on this one because she just sounds like a mixture of Gemini and Capricorn. With that being said this 3 song EP takes on a more jumpy Indie sound instrumentally as well. While the album and first EP could be something fans of the Threads era Now, Now would enjoy, this EP could be more for people who are fans of Dude York. Of course people like both sounds. With that being said, my favorite song off this is Apple. 4/5



Sources:

Band Fanzine's compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BfCfyqOrCQ


Allston Pudding Article: http://allstonpudding.com/43436-2/


Other Projects Mentioned:

Banana: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5iWqRJFWEzNe4enHt89zSb?si=l_BrKI_zRf-qmi5o6vviTA

Drama Club Romance: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6JaIMzIowLeJwaNMzNDZKU?si=sdGTgg-3QfKX8Twrz8oIyA

DUMP HIM: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nRfJc54k6c874vvk6TVWq?si=9alXlC0MRvifaODBNr9_5g

Palehound: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4AgusFXPk24LCGMMplX34M?si=sTV6DtSLTJ610leOpilOTg

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