Long Island, NY · emo · alt-rock · post-hardcore

Taking Back Sunday

4 upcoming festivals ↓

Long Island emo royalty — mic-swinging catharsis, twenty-plus years deep, 'MakeDamnSure' still a communal throat-shred, and yes, the mic still swings.

Taking Back Sunday formed in Amityville, New York, in late 1999, put together by guitarist Eddie Reyes and bassist Jesse Lacey alongside vocalist Antonio Longo and drummer Steven DeJoseph. Lacey left within the year and went on to form Brand New, a split that later fed a well-publicised feud between the two bands.

Adam Lazzara joined on vocals before the release of the band's 2002 debut, Tell All Your Friends, which established the template: interlocking dual vocals from Lazzara and John Nolan, call-and-response lines that pile on top of each other, and lyrics pitched somewhere between accusation and confession.

The band's lineup has shifted repeatedly over the years: Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper left in 2003 to form Straylight Run, then returned in 2010, while Lazzara has remained the constant throughout.

2004's Where You Want to Be reached number three on the Billboard 200, before Louder Now brought the band their widest audience in 2006, selling over 900,000 copies and peaking at number two. Its single "MakeDamnSure" remains the song most crowds are waiting for.

Taking Back Sunday released their eighth studio album, 152, in 2023, and were ranked among Consequence's 100 Best Pop Punk Bands in 2019. Live, they remain a loud, sweaty, sing-along proposition.

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emoalt-rockpost-hardcore