Heaviside, Post-Hardcore, and Why Any of This Matters.
Why music? Why do we spend so much time listening to it? Why drive hours to a show, buy merch, spend money we don’t really have, get tattoos that represent what music has given us? Why pour time and energy into writing about bands playing in a warehouse in Charlottesville?
For me, the answers are simple: emotion, connection, energy, and art.
Music moves us. It complements the feelings we already have. If we’re sad, a sad song speaks to that sadness. If we’re angry, or lost, or full of adrenaline, there’s a song for that too.
Music also moves our bodies, whether we want it to or not. The energy created by a band, the music, and the people is palpable. And music is art, created by artists who have spent thousands of hours perfecting their craft and making something that reaches into us. Then there’s connection. Real connection. No matter who we are, what we believe, or how we identify, music pulls people together. It gives us a shared language. It creates joy and softens sadness.
Back in June, we got wind of a band in the Charlottesville area playing post-hardcore music. We don’t get a lot of that, which in my little world, is extremely exciting.
That band was Heaviside.
We’ve written about Heaviside before and touched on post-hardcore before, but it’s worth revisiting what the genre is. Post-Hardcore grew in the early 2000s out of the punk, hardcore, and the metal scenes of the 80s and 90s. It kept all the aggression and intensity but it pushed the boundaries creatively. Different vocal styles. More dynamics. More melody. More tension-and-release. Screaming and clean singing mixing together. Big builds and big breakdowns. Moments that hit you in the chest and moments that open you emotionally.
When we first saw Heaviside perform, it was at Superfly Brewery in June (you can check out our write-up). Not only was it our first time seeing them, it was the first time anyone saw them. Their first-ever live show. At the time they had one EP, Never Said It Was Easy, and six total songs. Five from the EP, one new one (Lilies, which we talk more about later). That’s it.
But here’s the thing: the songs said something. They worked together. There was intention and a story already forming. We could feel that foundation being laid in real time, and we knew immediately these guys could only go up from there.
And fuckin-a, they did!
Fast-forward to this past Saturday night. Heaviside played a release show for their new EP, Lines All Along, at Jbird Coffee’s warehouse, tucked into a little industrial park off Market Street.
In six months, these guys have evolved. Not in the small “oh hey, this band is improving” way. I mean in the “holy shit, this is becoming something bigger” way. They’re building an experience. Working with other bands to shape a show. And the confidence, the cohesion, the emotion—they’re all sharper, deeper, more intentional and their sound is dialed in.
The new EP has five songs. They played all of them Saturday night, mixing in a few from Never Said It Was Easy, and it all felt like one complete arc. One statement.
I asked the boys—John, Caleb, Andrew, and Christian—about the intention behind the new record. What were they feeling? What were they pushing toward? What were they trying to say?
“One of the main things we tried to do as a band was push ourselves more musically. We wanted more musicality in the songs, and to be more intentional with the choices we made while writing.
As far as the lyrics, this album is us struggling with a lot of uncertainty. Be it social, internal, spiritual, whatever, but deciding to move through that and lean into it as opposed to running from it.
We (as individuals) are in a number of transitional seasons, and we think that really comes through. In a lot of ways it is a response to the dissonance between what people say they believe and how they act.
Things aren't always what they seem, and struggling for balance in the gray areas is always worth it.”
That struck me. They aren’t just writing riffs or breakdowns or catchy choruses (because that’s there too.) They’re wrestling with things that are real. The uncertainty, the transitions, the gray areas…that’s what separates the boys from the men and it shows in their music. You can see it on their faces, hear it in their voices, and feel it in their energy.
To highlight their depth and energy from both the show, and the album, there are two songs to discuss.
First, Lilies.
Anxiety is a real thing that affects so many people I know, including myself. Back in June, after the Superfly show, we wrote that Lilies was “lyrically rich and sonically layered, the kind of track that leaves you wanting more.”
If worry won’t add a single breath
Why do I fear what’s coming next?
(x3, followed by a perfectly timed breakdown that makes even the stillest of mankind stomp the downbeat)
So I’ll take the lilies while they’re still in bloom
Sing like the birds though the fall is soon
Second, How We Fall
How We Fall is a six-minute-long emotional journey. Three verses, two choruses, and an outro that builds into a final cathartic breakdown that will make you want to throw your couch out the window if you’re listening in your living room. It’s dark. It asks questions that matter. It deals with the fear of losing everything.
I try to hold on, look to the sky
But this darkness inside me, my sight it denies.
Every day feels like a question with no reply.
And I’m left here alone, just wondering why.
Woah, this is how we fall
No strength left to make the call
Fading slow then we lose it all
This is how we fall
I know I should listen, just close my eyes,
But my vision is blurred, my ears filled with lies.
I can’t hear your voice even though I’ve tried.
You know I’ve tried
Heaviside gets it – emotion, connection, energy and art.
That’s why we keep coming back.
And that’s why a band like Heaviside matters in a place like Charlottesville.
We need this. We’ve always needed this.
And right now, Heaviside is giving it to us.
If worry won’t add a single breath
Why do I fear what’s coming next?
It’s time to be happy, Y’all.
