#5. Bucketfull- Bucketfull (EP)

Year Of Release: 1993

Label: 201 Records

Lineup: Mike Nogroski (vocals, guitar), Jeb Beatty (bass), Tim O’Neill (drums)

Genres: Midwest emo, post-hardcore

Tracklist:

1. Remedy (4:31)

2. Of This Existence (3:57)

3. Snow (3:44)

What’s this? ANOTHER emo release?! Well, As I’ve stated before, and as anyone who knows me can attest, ‘90s punk, hardcore, and especially emo is kind of my specialty. I love this shit, and one of my reasons for living is sharing these wonderful obscure bands with the rest of the world so maybe they can be appreciated by fellow connoisseurs of obscure emo. I found Bucketfull’s one and only three track EP due to being one of the very earliest releases tagged as Midwest emo on Rate Your Music, along with the earliest releases and demo tapes from the likes of Cap’n Jazz, Sunny Day Real Estate, Lync, Friction, and Gauge.

Sadly, unlike their iconic contemporaries who influenced an entire movement and literally three decades of emo bands, Bucketfull instead faded into obscurity and remain mostly unknown to this day. They were unfortunately doomed to being a mere footnote in the ‘90s second wave “post-emo indie rock” scene, only appreciated by the lucky few who managed to stumble upon them online, and maybe a few of the oldheads from Austin who still remember them from back in the day. But goddammit, it never should have been that way! This band should have been a revered member of that classic second wave pantheon, and they should have had a longer career with more releases to their name, because this is one hell of an EP!

Being a very early Midwest emo EP during the infancy of the genre, this one definitely clings to the punky roots of emo with passionate post-hardcore energy and dynamics. It has delicate, jangly fingerpicking along with chunky melodic RIFFS, something later Kinsella-core noodlewank bands could learn from. In fact, you could consider this a direct descendant to the R.E.M. meets Hüsker Dü meets Embrace recipe that The Hated were cooking up on groundbreaking 1989 album, Every Song, or perhaps a more emo take on Chapel Hill legends Superchunk and Archers Of Loaf. And lyrically, these songs have the bittersweet introspection you would expect from emo. All three tracks are great, but opener “Remedy” is the clear highlight. Soaring, anthemic, melancholic, and with tasty crunchy riffs… This song is legitimately perfect, and one of the greatest emo songs ever in my humble (objectively correct) opinion. The fact that the other songs are fantastic in their own right is just the icing on the cake. 

Please listen to this. You’ll thank me for it!

FIND IT HERE-

YouTube: https://youtu.be/QFIRfBgNuqY and https://youtu.be/ZJPLZ1Y-pbw (also, you should definitely subscribe to both channels, as they both feature a treasure trove of obscure punk, hardcore, and emo)

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/3349199-Bucketfull-Bucketfull 

eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/365278926611

RATE, CATALOG, AND DISCUSS-

Rate Your Music: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/bucketfull/bucketfull/

Album Of The Year: https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/702598-bucketfull-bucketfull.php