Introducing Sam: Dedicated emo and compulsive live music appreciator

Hi! I'm Sam or Sammy if I'm feeling nice. I guess I am the emo writing on this page. Don't call me anything else or I will kill you and mail your body to a non-vegetarian friend who will then proceed to eat you. So watch out. I thought I’d kick off writing for Michael about a band that is touring soon, yes, AFI!!! I might even go so far as to be the gig reviewer, so if u want details I’ll keep you posted.

AFI- Decemberunderground


AFI (for those of you who for some reason don't know AFI is A Fire Inside. Though how you could avoid this information is beyond me), have been a bit enigmatic since their last release (sing the Sorrow 2003). I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but they’re released very few images lately, especially strange considering they have recently launched the album Decemberunderground that rocketed into the pop charts (I'm told. How revolting). Not to mention their disappointing drop out of the 2006 Big Day Out. But still, they have maintained their integrity whilst producing an album in the true spirit of AFI that is also a bit of a branch away from their previous album Sing the Sorrow. Decemberunderground is huge. The songs are frequently played on channel V and I’m sure that they are still gracing the radio. It first began with the release of Miss Murder, which I have to admit was my favourite track for a long time. But, in truth, to fully appreciate it, you have to listen to the entire album (loudly and on repeat all, until you know all the words and so does everyone else living with you). This is, I think, why AFI have begun to be described as not emo, not hardcore, not even punk, but pop. And to me this is almost blasphemy, until I realized that ha! AFI are recruiting young teens into the emo army! But even that made me retch. No, I don't think it matters where AFI are played, because truly, this album is transcendent and AWESOME! AFI are an amazing band, who have the integrity, ingenuity and presence to have lasted so long and continue to produce decent tracks that apparently everyone can love. So, to me at least, it doesn’t matter what people call AFI, because it doesn’t matter what we think: AFI have the power to transcend labels and genres to become one of the most quietly brilliant bands of the past 15 years.

Listen to: Miss Murder and Love Like Winter