Why You Should Love Mayday Parade
I went to Warped Tour Wednesday, flist. And the only reason I'm not jumping up and down is because my excitement and glee can't be boiled down to keyboard smashing. No, they must remain in full screaming, jumping, flailing, physical dimensions.
Why? Because of these guys.
This is Mayday Parade.
(Note: all these pictures were taken by me because there are very few pictures of them anywhere on the internet. You can check out those that do exist on their MySpace page.)
Mayday Parade is a completely adorable, completely lovable band from Tallahassee. Let's meet the band, shall we?
Meet the Band
This is Derek Sanders.
He's the lead singer, and he plays the keyboard. He also looks like a creeper in pretty much every official band photo and/or video (or he looks ugly), but is ridiculously cute in person. He gives William Beckett a run for his money in terms of skinny lead singers, and his voice is to die for.
This is Jeremy Lenzo.
He plays bass and does the back-up vocals. He's really, really hot. And his voice is also to die for. Mayday Parade has less of a front vocals > back-up vocals thing than some bands in that there's a lot of backup vocals in some songs.
This is Alex Garcia.
He plays guitar. More on him later in the extras section.
This is Brooks Betts.
He also plays guitar, and if you like Ray Toro's hair, this should leave you at least a little impressed.
Lastly, this is Jake Bundrick.
I only have crappy pictures of Jake because drummers manage to hide way in the back. But YOU SHOULD KNOW: Jake also does back-up vocals. In fact, he does more of them than Jeremy. His voice is also to die for (funny how that works). That means Mayday Parade has at least three sets of vocals going on at times, which means their vocal layering is a thing of awe and beauty.
Mayday Parade is signed to Fearless Records, home of many bands including, but not limited to, Alesana, Plain White T's, and The Maine (former artists include Gatsby's American Dream and Sugarcult, among others). Mayday Parade has released an EP and an LP. The EP, released in 2006, is called Tales Told By Dead Friends, and was followed up quickly by 2007's LP A Lesson in Romantics. One song from the EP, Three Cheers For Five Years, was featured on Fearless' Punk Goes Acoustic 2.
The Music and Videos
That's great, I hear you say, but what do they sound like?
What I'm putting here first is the song that made me fall in love with the band. It's the afore-mentioned acoustic version of Three Cheers For Five Years, and it's just gorgeous.
Three Cheers For Five Years.
The first single from A Lesson in Romantics is When I Get Home, You're So Dead.
The second single from the album is Jamie All Over - this video was recently shot for it. It's the first song on the album, and they opened with it at Warped Tour.
Again, note Derek looking ugly and/or creepy. HE'S NOT REALLY THAT UGLY, I SWEAR IT.
Moving on. A couple more songs from the album (these ones are some of my favourites. Actually, I love the whole CD, but, well. I want you to buy it, so I'm not putting it all on here. I'm cruel that way).
Champagne's For Celebrating (I'll Have A Martini).
Miserable At Best. (Another totally gorgeous song.)
Jersey.
Extras and More Pictures
Another reason to love this band is because they do stuff like this:
(Watch it all the way to the end; it's so worth it.)
Warped Tour Blog:
More videos.
Okay, more pictures now.
Let's take another look at Derek.
Look his hand and his hair and him, come on, seriously, guys.
More Brooks.
More Jeremy! (I have like 302485374 pictures of him because he was right in front of us at Warped, but they're all essentially the same. Bottom line: he's smoking hot).
More Alex!
And one more of Jake.
Why? Because of these guys.
This is Mayday Parade.
(Note: all these pictures were taken by me because there are very few pictures of them anywhere on the internet. You can check out those that do exist on their MySpace page.)
Mayday Parade is a completely adorable, completely lovable band from Tallahassee. Let's meet the band, shall we?
Meet the Band
This is Derek Sanders.
He's the lead singer, and he plays the keyboard. He also looks like a creeper in pretty much every official band photo and/or video (or he looks ugly), but is ridiculously cute in person. He gives William Beckett a run for his money in terms of skinny lead singers, and his voice is to die for.
This is Jeremy Lenzo.
He plays bass and does the back-up vocals. He's really, really hot. And his voice is also to die for. Mayday Parade has less of a front vocals > back-up vocals thing than some bands in that there's a lot of backup vocals in some songs.
This is Alex Garcia.
He plays guitar. More on him later in the extras section.
This is Brooks Betts.
He also plays guitar, and if you like Ray Toro's hair, this should leave you at least a little impressed.
Lastly, this is Jake Bundrick.
I only have crappy pictures of Jake because drummers manage to hide way in the back. But YOU SHOULD KNOW: Jake also does back-up vocals. In fact, he does more of them than Jeremy. His voice is also to die for (funny how that works). That means Mayday Parade has at least three sets of vocals going on at times, which means their vocal layering is a thing of awe and beauty.
Mayday Parade is signed to Fearless Records, home of many bands including, but not limited to, Alesana, Plain White T's, and The Maine (former artists include Gatsby's American Dream and Sugarcult, among others). Mayday Parade has released an EP and an LP. The EP, released in 2006, is called Tales Told By Dead Friends, and was followed up quickly by 2007's LP A Lesson in Romantics. One song from the EP, Three Cheers For Five Years, was featured on Fearless' Punk Goes Acoustic 2.
The Music and Videos
That's great, I hear you say, but what do they sound like?
What I'm putting here first is the song that made me fall in love with the band. It's the afore-mentioned acoustic version of Three Cheers For Five Years, and it's just gorgeous.
Three Cheers For Five Years.
The first single from A Lesson in Romantics is When I Get Home, You're So Dead.
Click to viewThe second single from the album is Jamie All Over - this video was recently shot for it. It's the first song on the album, and they opened with it at Warped Tour.
Again, note Derek looking ugly and/or creepy. HE'S NOT REALLY THAT UGLY, I SWEAR IT.
Moving on. A couple more songs from the album (these ones are some of my favourites. Actually, I love the whole CD, but, well. I want you to buy it, so I'm not putting it all on here. I'm cruel that way).
Champagne's For Celebrating (I'll Have A Martini).
Miserable At Best. (Another totally gorgeous song.)
Jersey.
Extras and More Pictures
Another reason to love this band is because they do stuff like this:
(Watch it all the way to the end; it's so worth it.)
Warped Tour Blog:
More videos.
Okay, more pictures now.
Let's take another look at Derek.
Look his hand and his hair and him, come on, seriously, guys.
More Brooks.
More Jeremy! (I have like 302485374 pictures of him because he was right in front of us at Warped, but they're all essentially the same. Bottom line: he's smoking hot).
More Alex!
And one more of Jake.
