Newport Beach, CA · post-hardcore

Saosin

1 upcoming festival →

The Anthony Green-fronted EP is the stuff of scene legend; the live show still leans on it — 'Seven Years' guaranteed to level the tent.

Beau Burchell started Saosin after leaving the band Open Hand, writing demos alone before bringing in guitarist Justin Shekoski, bassist Zach Kennedy and vocalist Anthony Green in Orange County, California, in the summer of 2003. Green proposed the band's name, taken from a Chinese phrase meaning "be careful," translating literally to "small heart."

Their earliest recordings featured Green on vocals; after his departure Cove Reber fronted the group for its first two full-length albums before Green returned to the lineup years later. Burchell has been a constant presence throughout, also working as a producer.

The debut EP, Translating the Name, released in 2003, sold around 62,000 copies and spread through early online forums and MySpace before the band had released a full album. Their self-titled debut album followed in 2006 on Capitol Records.

The second album, In Search of Solid Ground, came out on Virgin Records in 2009 and included re-recorded tracks from the band's earlier Grey EP. Reber's departure in 2010 led to a hiatus; Saosin reunited in 2013 with all original members except Kennedy, and released Along the Shadow on Epitaph Records in 2016, marking Green's return.

Musically the band pairs melodic, high-register vocals and vocal harmonies with intricate guitar work built on delays and natural harmonics, alongside abrupt dynamic shifts, a combination that placed them alongside the mid-2000s wave of screamo and emo-adjacent rock acts. Their early EP material remains the reference point for much of the audience that follows them.

Read more

post-hardcore