It’s truly a coming of age story. I’ve been blessed with seeing Taking Back Sunday evolve over the past five months, from their Victory Records showcase at the infamous South By Southwest Music Festival, to more recent shows in Houston and Austin, with one more sandwiched somewhere in between. While embarking on all the TBS excursions I can handle, I've witnessed a crucial growth in their fan base as well as a growth in stage presence, to become one of the most stirring shows I've seen. It says a lot when a band finds it 'normal' to collapse after a show from utter fatigue. Mental note: complete physical exhaustion is the sign of an awe-inspiring show.

With vocalist Adam Lazzara going in and out of standing convulsions as he twists the mic chord around his neck, transforming it into a noose, unafraid to pull tighter, the stage antics convey a feeling of pure torment. A torment we are all anxiously waiting to inhale like an addictive narcotic. Though a penetrating performance isn't the backbone that holds a band steadfast, the music is undeniably the nervous system of TBS, stimulating, sensitive and insuppressible.

TBS, the name being born from a b-side Smiths song, found a sound that every band and artist crave for in their work- originality. You know, a sound that hasn't been done a hundred times over. Their debut album Tell All Your Friends, is full of sarcastic tag-teaming lyrics which are complicated to follow, simply because you want to sing along to every part, but the execution of that is damn near impossible. And despite the comparisons to a sound that's a hybrid of Saves The Day and Thursday, they're indubitably not a band to be lumped into any one genre. When you combine the elements of a live show and the lyrics together, you get an infusion of sheer perfection.

TBS has an intensity level that will transform the way you relate to the CD. You can't neglect the affect they both have. While you’re watching the music pulsate through every capillary that weaves through their body, you feel it invading your body down to a simple tingle that filters through to the very tips of your fingers. That's what it's about, the artist portraying the music's emotion as they feed you everything they have as they place an observable emotion to their inner most thoughts (i.e. the lyrics.) "[Writing lyrics] is kind of like tapping into the frustrations that I'm not even quite able to put my finger on, or even talk about it or express it really." As I speak with guitarist and vocalist John Nolan, he graciously trips over his thoughts, wanting to be as precise as possible on the hidden hole where he and Lazzara pull so much of the emotion that manifests itself through the lyrics. The more I listen to him speak, the more I understand where the bands’ cathartic professions come from. "Somehow through writing, it's almost like tapping into a subconscious type of frustration and a general kind of disappointment and anger or whatever it is, somehow finding a way to express it through music. It's being able to tap into something you can't say, which is coming from a basic source of frustration somewhere in me."

With that in mind, maybe it's the generalization of the ambience of the album that has the kids depleting their emotions to a point where they're left in sheer bliss. TBS is beginning to realize more often, that the kids are listening. And the proof? Let's just say a venue in which TBS is about to play in is being invaded by hoards of kids.

Since their days playing East Coast shows, Lazzara, guitarist Ed Reyes, drummer Mark O’Connell, bassist Shaun Cooper and Nolan, have defiantly made marks beginning with a D.I.Y. tour. John appreciatively jokes about the band's "basically worthless self-booked tour," as he put it. According to him, the tour apparently faltered once they entered the other realm, a.k.a. the 'Deep South'. "Once we hit Virginia we were playing for like 15 kids and five drunk hicks at the bar. We were playing to complete strangers who were oblivious to who we were. I mean we did o.k. It wasn’t a complete disaster. There would always be that one kid that would be really psyched about it, but it’s not even remotely like what’s going on now."

Leaning against the van, Nolan’s eyes graze over the long line of anxiously awaiting kids forming outside the club. The line has grown ten-fold since the last time they were out on the road. It's a visual that confirms the bands growing popularity. "It’s weird. It’s only been recently that we’ve been in the position that we’re doing anything for anybody. It’s as if we’re finally starting to be at the point where there’s somewhat of a demand for us, and the fact that it’s happening at all is just amazing to me." Granted, he’s probably down playing the band’s initial popularity. Nolan jokes about how six months ago their entire fan-base could have fit into a 200 seat club. "Since the record came out, you’d be surprised of how ridiculous the amount our following has grown in only a matter of three or four months." With amplified craving for the collaboration of TBS, there’s bound to be an augmented anxiety about a next record.

It's one thing when a band prevails because of the music industry muck that often are the contributors to a bands mass population success (i.e. MTV, Rolling Stone interviews and radio play), but it's another feat when the buzz of a band's talent is sought after by everyone without the help of these corporate avengers.

Holding honors as the fastest selling band in Victory Records history, though the guys aren’t keeping score, the fans aren't the only ones who are biting at their nails to know how the next TBS record is going to sound. Nolan’s eyes light up and a 12-year-old like smile engulfs his face when he talks about a new record. "[Anxiety] that's mostly what it is. I wanna know how it's gonna come out and I have no idea what the finished product will be. We have everyone in the band with all these different parts and all these songs yet I won't know that's gonna happen until we get together. So I'm kind of excited and nervous and then there's the pressure of the first album. When you do your first record you're basically just happy that you're even making a record. Then when it's time for the second one, people are expecting something. It's just interesting. I'm really psyched and I wish we could get going on it more so than we are. It's just the fact that we have no idea what it's going to come out like makes it even more exciting." Though they're taking advantage of the touring at this point, the band has already confirmed a tour this fall with Midtown and Recover, so it may be a while before new tunes grace our ears. So for now, enjoy the show, by an ever-evolving band.

— Lycia Shrum

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