as we hurtle through space on this rock called planet earth we, as members of the human race no matter your race, religion or sexual orientation, are all looking for something. the something i speak of is a connection, which is either a blessing or a curse of the human condition. connections help validate our existence. it doesnt matter if these connections are to lovers, friends, family, enemies, children, records, cars or money. all of our connections make us feel alive. they fill some place in our hearts and minds that otherwise would be vacant. i maybe full of shit, but there is no other way to explain the popularity of social networking sites like myspace and facebook. there cant be that many finely chiseled dudes trying to nail fake underage pussy, can there? of course there can, who the hell am i kidding? even on that level the potentially accused is trying to make some kind of connection.

sometime during my 10th or so listen to the kamikaze hearts’ oneida road i knew i had, or was attempting to make an emotional connection. “reckless but not enough to be noticed” a line off of “deer hunter” kept resonanting through my psyche. in seven short words, lead kamikaze heart, troy pohl, summed up the essence of my life. as simple as that phrase is, it packs a whallop in the context of the song. those words led me to listen to oneida road with a different set of ears. a set of ears that sadly dont get used as much as they should, mainly due to my own laziness.

oneida road reminds me of the instant that i realized being an adult was like “what the fuck is this? this is what i have been waiting all these years for?” it actually wasnt one instance but a multitude of happenings, ie broken hearts, unpaid parking tickets, calls from creditors, a growing indifference to the world, etc. that all culminated into one unwanted awakening. its the loss of innocence, the compounding feelings of regret and self doubt, themes touched on throughout oneida road, that inevitably made my connection to this record even more obvious.

if it werent for the fact that the albums closer, “guyana central high school class of 78,” is about a cult like suicide, it would be a perfect opener. the start of a new life, new possibilities, and the “gonna grab the life by the balls” mentality that only youth can bring. only to be brought back down to earth during the remainder of onieda road. gaven richard, the other lead heart, leads a chorus of “i’m so proud of all of you” given by what i still feel is a commencement speaker to a graduating class. to me the song will always be about hope, no matter what i found out in this article.

when mr pohl sings “about all the good things we’ll have in the end..” on the lead track “top of your head” i want to believe him. during trying and what sometimes seems like insurmountable situations, we always speak of how things will get better. we always want to believe the things we say, but we know that we rarely ever fare so well. there is always that gilmmer of hope, and pohl brings it in spades.

when i listen to oneida road, i truly listen. oneida road needs to be listened to, and not merely heard. for all of these reasons, and a few more, oneida road is by far my favorite record of the year.

no one called you a failure – in studio at kdhx

half of me – in studio at kdhx

deer hunter

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