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One of my favourite bands in the entire world released their 4.5th album yesterday and silly me was sitting with an open blogger page not knowing what to write about. Then today it hit me. Duh, write about Alexisonfire! I don't look like the type of girl who'd listen to a band like them. They sound like a guy with a pretty voice getting into an argument with a guy who is kind of upset about things, while a guy who really likes punk is laughing with a guy who likes to rhyme while there is a guy who looks like a rat keeping time*. I'd like to say I've been into them since their start but sadly I haven't. I remember the 'Counterparts and Number Them' video and thinking, what the hell is this noise and why is it on tv? I never gave them a chance, like many others, and switched the channel.

It wasn't until one day when a boy gave me 'Hello, I'm in Delaware' that things started to change, and change they certainly did. I fell in love with a voice, I didn't know the face the sound belonged to though and frankly I didn't care. The voice drilled into my heart, latched on and has never let go almost 5 years later. After getting my hands on every song Dallas Green had recorded under the moniker City and Colour, I was hungry for more. After googling him and wading through all the websites about a baseball player named Dallas Green, I discovered that the Dallas I was desperately searching for was in another band, Alexisonfire. I youtubed them and found 'Counterparts and Number Them'. I cringed. This beautiful voice was a part of the band who so many times I'd changed the channel on? I listened. I didn't mind the drums or the bass or the guitars, my heart swelled when I heard Dallas' voice and sank when I heard the screaming. How could anyone listen to this? I made myself listen more and more, the screaming became less like noise and more like lyrics. He's actually trying to say something! Eventually I began to appreciate the heavenly voice and the angry voice, they somehow always complimented each other perfectly. I'd play their music all the time, in my room, in the car with my Mom who always complains about George, "I'd like it a lot more if the screaming stopped" she says. I play her 'Side Walk When She Walks'- she likes that one.. no screaming.

I first saw Alexisonfire at Warped Tour in 2006, I won tickets at my grad breakfast, it's almost like it was meant to be. I waited all day in rays of the boiling hot sun for them. I had no idea how popular or unpopular they were here but 30 minutes before the show I found out. There was a sea of people and I was just shy of the front middle area. The music started and I was pushed, I didn't know what was happening. Why did someone push me, didn't they know I was fragile? The once calm sea of people began to swirl around me getting rougher and rougher. People were running and screaming and slamming their bodies into each other. This wasn't for me, I wanted to change the channel. I had to move off to the side, I couldn't see anything. After the show had ended I waited, I wanted to meet Dallas, the one who's voice was latched to my heart, the one who got me hooked on this band. Security pushed everyone away, I ran off to the side and waited more. I got to talk with him over a fence, he gave me his guitar pick, I still have it to this day. I asked for a hug and he came out just for me to give me one. I've seen Alexisonfire 4 times since then each time blows the previous out of the water. But nothing will compare to the second time I saw them. I watched part of the set from the press pit and the rest of the show from the side of the stage. Stupid security guards. I'm sad to say I'm going to be missing out on seeing the boys at Warped Tour this year unless by some miracle I get tickets. Money has been super tight and I just can't afford to spend 60 bucks to see them play for 30 minutes.

Yesterday their newest album, Old Crows/Young Cardinals was officially released. It contains their usual number of tracks, 11. There is a nice mixture of Dallas' heavenly voice, George's angry sing/screaming and Wade's smooth yet raspy punkish singing. The drumming by Jordan is phenomenal and Steele's bass completes every song. Check out The Northern, Burial and Emerald Street, my personal favourites. My boys are back and I can't wait to see how they someday top this record.