Taking Back Sunday formed in Amityville, Long Island in 1999 and helped write the blueprint for second-wave emo. Tell All Your Friends (2002) is the essential one — the Lazzara/Nolan dual-vocal trade-offs still hit — with Louder Now (2006) close behind. Dig into Taking Back Sunday vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Taking Back Sunday formed in Amityville, Long Island, New York in 1999. The band's name was taken from a line in the Long Island hardcore band Soft Pyramids's song Crystal. They are widely cited as one of the foundational acts of second-wave emo alongside contemporaries like Brand New, Thursday, Saves the Day, and the Long Island/New Jersey emo scene of the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut Tell All Your Friends on Victory Records - featuring the singles Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team), You're So Last Summer, and Great Romances of the 20th Century - is widely cited as one of the most important second-wave emo albums and has cultural significance for the genre. The Adam Lazzara / John Nolan dual-vocalist dynamic is widely cited as one of the most important emo vocal templates. Nolan and Cooper departed in 2003 (creative tensions with Lazzara affecting band relationships; Nolan/Cooper subsequently launching Straylight Run). They both returned in 2010 with the classic lineup reuniting. They have continued releasing material across multiple decades.
Taking Back Sunday's sound is foundational to second-wave emo - combining emo, post-hardcore, alternative rock, pop punk, indie rock, and emo pop with the distinctive Lazzara/Nolan dual-vocalist arrangements (use of interlocking dual vocal lines and vocal call-and-response), Reyes/Nolan dual guitar arrangements, virtuosic O'Connell drum work, and lyrical content addressing relationships, betrayal, and confessional themes drawing on confessional songwriting traditions.
Victory Records, Warner Bros., Hopeless Records, and Fantasy pressings of the Taking Back Sunday catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings.
Listeners new to Taking Back Sunday typically start with Tell All Your Friends (2002) or Louder Now (2006).
