AFI

"The Lost Souls" by AFI from The Art of Drowning (2000)

This song introduced me to AFI while I was on the way to the 2001 Warped Tour at the SkyDome (now unfortunately called the Rogers Centre). This was both my first major concert and the first time that I was going to Toronto without any parental supervision: this was to be a very promising afternoon.

Derrick, Darren, Scott and I prepped ourselves on the drive down to the city by listening to all of the bands that we hoped to see (H2O, Pennywise, Lagwagon, The Ataris, Bouncing Souls, Less Than Jake, Rancid, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, etc.). At this point I was mildly familiar with most of the major bands who would be playing, but I had not yet heard AFI; this goth-punk four-piece, I was told, would likely put on the best set of the day (and they did).

What first struck me about the music was its use of bass, rather than guitar, to carry the songs; most of the SoCal post-punk I was listening to at the time relied predominantly on their lead guitarist to give the song its distinct sound. Davey Havok's voice was what really captivated me though. As I had spent so much time listening to punk singers whose "talent" was the result of their inability to sing in tune, Havok's animalistic cry shook me to the core. He was able to carry a note better than anyone on tour, but was still alarmingly aggressive in attitude and delivery. Coupled with the anthemic background shouting of Adam (drummer), Hunter (bassist) and Jade (guitarist), Davey's vocals roused the crowd that day and have kept me listening for the better part of a decade.

"The Lost Souls" is a great illustration of AFI's transformation from speed-punk into a more somber sound: they paired Dark Romanticism and horror-punk with Burtonesque imagery beginning on the album prior to Drowning (Black Sails in the Sunset), but had truly honed in on their unique sound with this release.