Alternative Press teamed up with Taking Back Sunday for an exclusive white with blue splatter variant of 152, limited to 500 copies. Head to the AP Shop to snag yours.
Taking Back Sunday’s shift from angsty Long Island upstarts in the early 2000s to beloved punk elders was a journey that unfolded over decades. While they’ve pumped out a lot of classics along the way, they’ve also been boxed in as an “emo band.” That tag, however, doesn’t represent the band’s full power. “To think for one second that all we’re capable of is our first record is a goddamn mistake,” vocalist Adam Lazzara told AP earlier this year.
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After making the rounds on this year’s Sad Summer Festival, Taking Back Sunday are readying the release of their eighth studio album, 152. To accompany the announcement, they shared the new single “S’Old” and a video, which was filmed at a Long Island backyard house show that nods to their roots.
To prepare for the release, we asked our readers what the best Taking Back Sunday songs are of all time. From “You’re So Last Summer” to “MakeDamnSure,” find the top fan picks ranked below.
5. “Great Romances of the 20th Century”
Here, Taking Back Sunday take us on a ride through grief overtop raucous rock as the band chronicle the end of a relationship — and all the messiness that comes with it. There’s no better track to usher us into a blazing fall as Lazzara sings its enduring opening line: “September never stays this cold.” While Fight Club and Kid Dynamite posters may date the music video, the track remains a sheer classic to those who still believe in it. For the unfamiliar, the demo contains a spoken-word intro that details all the ways “a beautiful girl can make you dizzy,” which is worth a listen.
4. “You’re So Last Summer”
Another staple from their 2002 debut record, “You’re So Last Summer” has remained a vital part of the band’s setlists over the years. The song explores being dropped from a relationship and the misery that follows, as the lyrics brim with a whole lot of despair. If you haven’t seen the music video, you should change that: Flavor Flav joins the band onstage for its entirety as they rock out at an outdoor gig. (The legendary hype man is also a native of Long Island if you’re still scratching your head at the collaboration.)
3. “A Decade Under the Influence”
“A Decade Under the Influence” — the lead single from their 2004 record Where You Want To Be — is another rager that proves the group weren’t losing any stem since their breakout. The chorus is explosive and cathartic, while the lyrics are witty and paranoid. It’s a track worthy of mic swings and mosh pits, and wholly unsurprising that Taking Back Sunday still play it live.
2. “MakeDamnSure”
“MakeDamnSure” is an undeniable classic from their third album, Louder Now. Angry and defiant, the mid-2000s track remains an essential in the band’s catalog. From the onset, the song simmers with energy that soon erupts into a triumphant chorus — a quality that Taking Back Sunday do best. No doubt these lyrics have inspired countless tattoos, as it’s one of the band’s highest-streamed songs to date.
1. “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From the Team)”
“Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From the Team)” is the band’s definitive anthem. From their lauded debut album, Tell All Your Friends, the track hasn’t lost any of its shine over the years. “I don’t think we had any concept that any song we wrote for that record would ever be a single at all when we were writing, or even after the record was done,” John Nolan told AP in 2013. The music video matches the song’s energy, flashing between shots of the band and a fight match. “I think it speaks a lot to where we were emotionally. We were young at the time, so it was our take on the relationships we had experienced,” Lazzara adds.
