Great bands that FLOPPED (Saves The Day, The Starting Line & more) 

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Expecting motion city soundtrack to be mentioned again. I picked up commit this to memory the other day at the flea market for a buck and realized later it was signed by the entire band. Criminally underated pop punk rock group

I feel like finn has made a career talking about all the bands from the "MX vs. ATV Offroad Fury" soundtrack. Kudos to you, good sir. That was an excellent game.

I absolutely love Unwritten Law! What an underrated band.

I just saw The Starting Line open for All American Rejects and New Found Glory and they still sound great. I still love Say It Like You Mean it. It is a perfect pop punk album

Bands like TSL, The Early November, Jimmy Eat World, Boys Night Out and Saves The Day were the sort of bands who were just a couple steps ahead of now 30 something year olds at the time. They only “fell off” because we weren’t ready to hear the sort of maturity they were displaying through their writing. As I go back and re listen to all of these records like Futures, Based On A True Story etc. I love them even more than the initial records they put out that got me into them in the first place. These bands hit Rock/Alternative radio around the time when Sirius and satellite radio was booming. They all fell into the weird hole of being too immature for “adults”, and too mature for “kids”.

All of the Starting Lines albums are great so underrated!

I was never a fan of the starting line's music. But I have to say that Kenny is a great guy. He was filling in on bass for a band that I ended up joining after him and he did literally everything he could for us. Got us on a bunch of warped tour dates, promoted us on stage at their shows, shouted us out in the thank yous of the starting line albums, mentioned us in interviews. He seriously couldn't have been cooler to us.

the unwritten law front man does have an incredible voice, and it's so so good live too. saw them in a tour with sum41 ages ago, and that crowd was epic... memorable show across the board.

Finn, Unwritten Law are definitely still a band. I’m from Australia and they just did a tour this August. Definitely an underrated band. I’m 30 years old and I heard about them when I was a kid because Seein’ Red was on the Grind movie soundtrack. My only friend who listened to them is 35 and couldn’t come to the show because he had to look after his kid, so I went and saw them solo. They were good live.

It's hard to overstate how massive Through Being Cool was when it came out. Everyone was listening to it

UL was such a great band and were fantastic live. Saw them on warped tour back in 98 with Rancid, NOFX, Assorted Jelly Beans, Aquabats...

every time Finn makes me feel old I cope with remembering he is many months older than me.

About 20 years ago, I saw The Used headline a show that had the openers Finch, Days Away, The Starting Line, and Saves the Day. All in a 1,000-ish person little club and thought they were all going to flourish. This one hurt :(

That 90’s New Brunswick/Princeton scene was so good (Saves the Day, Lifetime) which wound up producing an all time great Philly melodic hardcore band, Kid Dynamite ⚡️

The Starting Line are one of my all time favorite groups. Love to hear you talk about them

I'm gonna be that guy for a moment. Ready? To make everyone feel even older, The Best of Me was released in 2002 just before their record in July of 2002. So even older than mentioned. With that said, everyone should re listen to TSL's discography because it's underrated as a whole! Finn could also make a video on their story because it's a facinating tale from being called Sunday Drive before TSL, to their Geffen label issues to their Virgin records label issues to the fact that they are still selling out shows today despite their last ep coming out in 2013. It's been a Rollercoaster for them and for the most part they take it in stride. As a band and as individuals, they rise above so many artists even those who have mainstream success.

Starting line was from real close by my town, my wife always tell the story bout how they came in to her empty bar late on like a Tuesday to celebrate when the island music video got played on mtv. She said they were the coolest most wholesome guys. Bonus points the singer’s grandma was a lunch lady at my high school. 😂

Sworn Enemy was crazy! I loved those guys. Reminds me of Northside Kings, Hoods and all those other “Thug” core bands. I also think people forget, outside of Boston Beatdown, FSU was on Gangland on History or TLC or one of those channels. That shit was real and real violent back in the day. Brass knuckles wrapped in bandanas so you couldn’t see who smacked the shit out of you while crowd killing. Miss it and don’t miss it at the same time

Unwritten Law’s self titled black album was actually their third album (and probably their best) but their second album Oz Factor was a banger as well and leaned more heavily into their punk sound. I associate them more with the skate punk scene than the pop punk scene even though they came out of Poway like Blink.

UL is absolutely amazing. They’re still a band. They released a new album a few months ago. Scott Russo is one of my favorite songwriters. He made an album with Amee Allen (the interrupters) in 2007 called Scott & Aimee - Sitting in a tree. What a great album…

Remember all the 'Now that's what I call music' CDs? You gotta make a playlist series with all your picks from these lists lol

Sworn Enemy is one of the best hardcore metal bands of all time. First time I saw them was on tour with Biohazard and Kittie. Changed my whole perspective on hard music forever.

Love Unwritten Law, and i still listen to them today. Elva and Here to the Mourning are absolute gems

Sworn Enemy was/is great. Love that 2000s hardcore sound like Hatebreed, Throwdown, Bury Your Dead, On Broken Wings, pre keepers of the faith Terror, Lionheart, First Blood, Too Pure To Die etc.

Brooooo thank u so much for the sworn enemy shout out! My cousin is Lorenzo the og lead guitar. He left to go Hollywood n shit but im glad his work gets recognition. I got the pleasure of goin on tour wit him when i was 18 back in 06. On that tour was six feet under, animosity(another super underated band)n it was job for a cowboys first tour. Jfac only did the second half of the tour cuz they were seniors in hs still lol. Also rip pauly the og drummer. I miss that guy .....

I’m a huge Saves fan. And I even like their catalog after Stay What You Are. In Reverie was such a shockingly different album that it just didn’t fit anywhere. No genre base would claim it. And they fizzled. Chris also wanted to turn the band into the modern Beetles, and the departure from their roots was too much for most.

Also, honorable mention for No Motiv. How did they not blow up big after Diagram for Healing? Super catchy with a radio-friendly voice. Tremendous live.

Through Being Cool and Stay What You Are, are damn classics. I always wish Homegrown was bigger than they were, same with Houston Calls.

I really dug The Starting Line's third album with Kenny embracing his curly hair for the first time. They had that acoustic album that was great as well that my late mother loved. Mark Trombino honestly has to be my all-time favorite producer in the music industry and he produced their first album. Just look at all the masterpiece albums he produced throughout the years including my all-time favorite album by Mineral, Endserenading. That will always be my favorite album until the day I die. He also produced Finch's debut, a bunch of Jimmy Eat World's best albums, and the underrated Denver Harbor album where 16 year old Ilan Rubin played amazing drums to the best pop-punk singer, Will Salazar on vocals. Oh and he produced Blink 182's Dude Ranch.

Love all three bands! The self titled Unwritten Law ‘black album’ was their third record. Blue Room and Oz Factor were solid.

Unwritten Law just finished a tour in Australia and recently released a new record which has some pretty great tracks on it. You should suss it out Finn.

Man this took me back I use to skateboard to these bands now I'm pushing almost 40 and would disengrate if I fell off a skateboard

I actually played in a band that opened for Sworn Enemy here in Manchester UK. The 2000s was a great time growing up in the alternative/underground scene.

Still love The Starting Line. Their other two albums are pretty good in my opinion, but I know most people aren't into them. Also, Unwritten Law's "Music in High Places" acoustic album is very underrated.

Saves The Day was ALWAYS weird. Seek out the Lisa's Birthday Tape (EP?) on RU-vid, I'm fairly certain those were prior to Can't Slow Down and they're really dark songs. For better or worse, they've always been a progressive band and none of their records sound the same. In Reverie, the record which is pointed out as their nose-dive into obscurity, is now wildly fawned over and instantly sold out both times it was repressed on vinyl.

Thank you for another bands that should have been bigger, always appreciate these videos. I remember seeing TSL in HS late 2002 right after Say it Like You Mean It, I was in the audience going " Damn these guys look like they are the same age as me"

Unwritten Law is still one of my favorites.

The Unwritten Law song Celebration Song was in Need For Speed Underground 2 and it was a great addition. They are still around and put out an album called The Hum last year

Unwritten Law did their rounds for sure on Leno, The Carson Daily Show and MTV prime time concerts. I even saw them playing on the ESPY’s back in the early days. Unwritten Law is one of my favorite bands, for some unknown reasons they just didn’t catch on, but were well respected by other bands in the scene at the time.

Unwritten Law 100% still a band. Saw them a couple of weeks ago in Australia and I’m 2020 as well. Unlike a lot of older bands winding down and doing small club shows, they are a very tight band and Scott still sounds amazing.

Always appreciate you carrying the torch for Unwritten Law, one of my faves

Glad to see Finn getting some advertisements to plug. Guy has been grinding on youtube for years, glad to see him getting paid!

The Starting Line and Saves The Day - Great examples. I have listened to these band A LOT since they popped up. Both had really interesting arcs. Kenny Vasoli (TSL) was recently a guest on the Chris Demakes A Podcast picking a part a later song of theirs. The 2nd album has a few songs clearly written during the 1st album, which are lovely (Bedroom Talk, Surprise Surprise) and then has a lot of angry songs. Still very very good. Then I lost them in the 3rd album. Saves The Day really did that voice thing you talked about. 1st and 2nd album (which is not on streaming) has the "gentle" voice, also the 3rd album In Reverie. Then the band did a trilogy of albums that pretty hard and dark, my favorite of them Sound The Alarm. More of a post-hardcore + thrashy Beatles thing, hehe. Then there's been a bunch of albums only for the diehard fans. Frontman Chris has been involved in some weird #metoo stuff, not sure about the status of that right now. Yada yada yada, I love the early work of both of these bands, hurray and thank you Finn always for bringing them up. Lots of love from Sweden.

That TSL album should be in a museum as the epitome of pop punk. Not a single skip on that entire thing. This was back when Drive Thru Records basically ruled that genre. Would love to see a video about the rise and fall of Drive Thru. I’m sure the owners (Richard and Stephanie I want to say?) would be up for an interview if you could track them down.

There is a hidden track on the Unwritten Law CD, after the track 418, called Father, Father (I think) , that is in my mind the best thing they ever did. The drums are phenomenal, all of the instruments are done well, singing is on point, the song has a solid groove and it has changes in tempo. Like I said, I think it's the best thing they ever did!

I am a 52 year old woman who used to go to Gilman over 30 years ago. There were probably twice as many guys as gals. Sometimes the skater types would bring their 'normal' looking girlfriends with them and they usually wouldn't mingle and would look at us like we were some kind of freakshow. LOL By the way I met Unwritten Law in a 7/11 parking lot around Oakland about 20 years ago. I was playing old Bad Religion with my windows rolled down when I pulled up and they were hanging outside of their van eating some snacks. One of them said they liked the song and I think he may have flirted with me but I wasn't sure. I said thanks then drove home.

will always love saves the day. a lot of people hated 'in reverie' but i really liked it. still have my tattoo from that albums artwork lol

Saves the Day is like the whiny pop punk sound version of the Descendants. So many bands in the following decade like Yellowcard, We the Kings, Simple Plan, Something Corporate, All Time Low, Paramore, and dozens of others all were clearly inspired by Saves the Day. Through Being Cool and Stay What You Are are incredibly iconic. The cover art for Through Being Cool is the single most encapsulating pop punk/emo image in existence.

Unwritten Law are playing at a local pub down the road from me. FYI i live in suburban Melbourne, Australia 😅

Love this video and LOVE that you featured Unwritten Law. Scalding hot take, Finn: not only are they still a band (who are oddly still big in Australia/NZ), but last summer they put out what I think may actually be their best album. It's called The Hum, and for all the reasons you said you liked self-titled, Elva and Here's To The Mourning, I GUARANTEE you will love it. To be clear, I am not a member of their organization lol just a long time fan.

As your 2000s racing game turbo nerd I feel the need to mention unwritten law having a song on nfsu2, burnout revenge and mx vs atv unleashed

I just saw The Starting Line last night, they are still very much rocking it. The story of TSL: They were founded in 1999, originally named Sunday Drive. They started out playing in Elk’s Lodges and churches, their first show was in a barn with Saves The Day. They eventually were signed to We The People Records, on we’re on their way to making their debut EP. Then, Drive Thru Records scooped them up in 2001 and they’d go on to release the With Hopes of Starting Over EP. That caught the attention of many new pop-punk fans. They’d release their first single The Best of Me in early summer 2002, and their album Say It Like You Mean It was released in July 2002. The single had heavy airplay on radio and MTV. The guys would spend most of 2002 & 2003 on the road touring in support of bands and eventually headlining. They would be staples at The Warped Tour. While touring they’d write, record and release the Make Yourself At Home EP. Eventually they’d be taken off the road to write & record their sophomore album. After their debut album went on to sell 200,000+ and they were upstreamed to Geffen. Geffen wasn’t very pleased with TSL, and told the band to record something like New Found Glory’s Sticks and Stones. The guys were very adamant about not recording the same type of music as before. They wanted to demonstrate their growth and maturation. Geffen kept them off the road for parts of 2003 and almost all of 2004 to record Based On A True Story. It was a push and pull of creative differences and it ended up being released in May of 2005, nearly 3 years after their debut. This was the demise of the band’s chance at being catapulted to the size of bands like Fall Out Boy, etc. They were banished from doing heavy touring right during the peak of the scene. And when they finally released BOATS, the scene had changed. I loved the BOATS album and all loyal TSL fans do as well. They received almost zero promotional support from Geffen. The guys eventually pleaded with Geffen to be released and they were granted their release in 2006. They became free agents and eventually signed with Virgin where they released Direction in the summer of 2007. Direction is a fantastic album and would be eventually their last full length (for now). Direction’s first single Island received heavy radio and MTV2 play and would be their highest charting single. Kenny, the lead singer/bassist, was just 23 when Direction was released. The band has done thousands of shows across the US, and have played in Australia, Europe, Japan and Malaysia. They have had four music videos receive steady airplay and have headlined tours with Paramore and Fall Out Boy. In 2008 the scene was all but dead, and fans gravitated away and the number of people attending their shows dwindled. The guys were tired- after 9 years of steady touring, 2 EPs, 3 full albums they needed a break. Some of the guys would need a creative tangent to go down, with Matt and Tom starting The Seventy Six and Kenny starting Person L and then Vacationer. They would go on (and still do) play holiday shows each year in December, and eventually released the EP Anyways in 2015. By 2019 they were starting to do a few random shows, mainly festivals per year and in 2023 embarked on a tour with AAR & NFG. By the time 2023 is over they will have played 20+ shows, by far the most since 2008. This is an amazing band that released some awesome music. Their live performance is outstanding.

Love your content once again. And, once again, looking to annoy you about design. Discovered David Rudnick and now I’m diving headfirst from tradesman life to super autismo graphic design theory. What are some good communities (shudder) and/or resources? Bought a few typography and design books looking to get creative again. Cheers. Also thanks again for inspiring me to give a shit about my creative side

Rye Coalition, KARP, that first Fallout EP with Peter Steele in 1982 before Type O Negative, and Harvey Milk are the most underrated bands I have come across. I hope this is useful for someone

Great video Finn! I would agree with this list you put together. Especially with unwritten law. They are still together it’s just Scott left from the classic lineup. You should do a video on merauder btw. Massively Underrated band that gets no respect what so ever. They have a huge influence on the metalcore sound. Keep up the great work!

Hi Finn. I love Unwritten Law. Seen them live when they come to Perth Australia. They're great live and there best show was at Scarborough Beach 3 weeks ago

Great list of bands. Saves The Day Through being cool is one of my all time favorite albums of that era. I actually saw them opening For H2O a New York harcore band promoting that album. Those songs live hit hard. In reverie their next album was a huge change in their style. good lyrics but I like their pop punk stuff more. Plus the singer dropped almost all his bandmates and assembled new band. Gorever shall through being cool be s classic.

Saw unwritten law in torquay Australia last Sunday. Put on an amazing show and cailin supported and she came on when they done the song cailin, and in wade fashion was just normal crazy and there was fight in the encore and wade got up threatening to fight em both. Etc etc haha

Literally saw Unwritten Law last week in Adelaide SA. Absolutely killed it.

Unwritten Law's 'the Celebration song' was in need for speed underground soundtrack. I still play 'rest of my life' in every acoustic guitar that cross my way. Great vid.

Oh my god, Unwritten Law! I remember hearing "Seein' Red" a couple times back in the day, loved it but never knew the song name and could never find out who it was. Time went on and I completely forgot about it- till today! Imma check them out right now, after the vid ends of course.

Unwritten Law was always a band i thought people knew because of Seein' Red. I remember it was on the soundtrack to a dumb skateboarding comedy called Grind. But yes, apparently they are still a band, they released a new album in 2022. Called "The Hum"

The Starting Line is the soundtrack for that time in your life where you're starting to come into yourself and really like cool music and have cool friends but you're not quite at the point where you have to be really responsible for anything serious. You and your best friend go to Kings Island with your mom and dad and crush on a girl you met there. Cookouts in the summer playing Tony Hawk vibe. No worries. The whole world is wide open. Great stuff.

Saw UL and DHC opening for Bad Religion in 96 :P

My friend Josh dobay did the vocals on the newer version of demolisher. From cleveland. I loved this band back in the day

I definitely had Alk3 in HEAVY rotation back when I was essentially drinking myself to death. Good one Finn. Cuts deep.

Bro! I love unwritten law! And they did get some AirPlay with up all night and seeing red rest of my life,save me. But I still feel like they never got the respect or credit that they deserve an awesome band! That I still blast on the regular!

Finn I saw Unwritten Law twice between 2004-2006, once with Sum 41 and another time with 311. They were awesome showmen, they even played a fugazi song. Thank you for the nostalgia drip. Great assessment, I always wanted more Unrwitten Law. Wish they didn't fall off so early.

Picked up some new music! Sick. ty

I still listen to Certain Tragedy on repeat to this day, Im scared to know the full spotify playcount of Stay What your are is for me. I would put Fenix TX on this list, they had big name fans and connections, but im not sure what happened there. Im thinking more and more about what my particular echo chamber was in middle school pre myspace and the songs and bands I was first introduced to an why.

First time I heard Unwritten Law was the video for “Save Me” from Here’s to the Morning in line for a roller coaster at Six Flags

I think w/TSL, SILYMI, as great as it was, 'Based On A True Story, took way too sharp of a left-hand turn from that prior sound for people to be on board with it. They didn't ease people into their change in sound. Similar to Saves the Day. 'Can't Slow Down' was amazing, 'Through Being Cool,' same. Then they got lucky with the college-indie crowd embracing, 'Stay What You Are,' but then 'In Reverie' was like, "who the hell is this band?" UL's, 'black' album is an all-time favorite for me. I think the band's in-fighting and diving head first into drugs/alcohol/partying, etc., held them back from being bigger. Sorry, passionate rant over. I just love that you talk about bands I grew up with.

I feel like Cartel deserves a mention along with these bands. Along with Motion City they kinda mastered the upbeat song with super depressing lyrics. Their albums rip though it sucks they never got bigger.

Wow gadzooks took me back. Definitely spelled it wrong but you can get von duch and southpole lol I still have a pair of shorts from that store 😅

Dude back in the early 2000s 'Sworn Enemy', "Hatebreed', and 'Throwdown" were my favorite bands. Dude I would lose my shit in the pit whenever Jamie sang, "NOW IS THE TIME FOR ME TO RISE TO MY FEET!!!" You remember watching on Boston Beatdown how Mobi got attacked by an FSU member? That shit was epiiiic. Nowadays I listen to Bane, Have Heart, and Down to Nothing. But I'm in my 40s now so I don't mosh nomo. But it's always good to reminisce on the good old days, Thanks FM.

Immediately going on a Sworn Enemy binge following this video. Queens NY represent , my boys are also in the as real as it gets video they filmed it here. Great video!

Sound the alarm by saves the day in 2006 is amazing.

Saves The Day put out a couple of really special albums that will always be cherished. Such great writing. Isnt Chris a member of mensa? Hung out with sworn enemy a couple of years ago after their album release. They still crush it! So good live. The energy was fantastic and violent. Good dudes. Always liked when they came around. Coming up in the Hardcore and Punk scene in Mass was something else❤️

Seein' Red was in the movie Grind from 2003 which is one of my fav comedies of all time and also is my pick for best soundtrack of all time. Still bump it on a couple playlists. Such a banger song

Happy to see Saves The Day and Unwritten Law get some love! They both made great albums for about a decade.

Unwritten Law are currently touring Australia going to a bunch of small cities that never get bands like Gosford on the Central Coast and Torquay in rural Victoria. I saw them on the Gold Coast. Small venue but packed out show. One of the best shows I have been to in the last 10 years

Allright I’m gonna check out unwritten law. Never heard of em back that one segment sounded like Torche which I dig a lot

Playing that here's to the mourning clip brought back memories.

I loved Sworn Enemy. They put on great shows. Special shout out to Sick Of It All too. Me and a buddy helped them load their equipment in a venue in Philly and they let us in for free and gave us guest spots up on stage during the show (with Madball and Hatebreed.)

Ohh I think Unwritten Law were pretty big down here in Australia!

Overlap, Supergirls and there were several bands in the early internet that you would find on websites: Mission 120, Slimer,Sloppy Meat eaters. You could probably also do a video on Christie Brigitte but man Darlington was awesome.

Sky Eats Airplane is one of these bands for me, only got one album & 2 EPs out of them, and the album was a masterpiece!

You hit it Finn. That Sworn Enemy song got me up and out of my hardcore rocking chair when I heard it a few years back. I have been unretired from living room moshing ever since.

I feel this way about Painted in Exile. Prog deathcore with hip hop, jazz, and clean vocals. Wild ass band but they had a ton of problems with members and their debut album was pretty lackluster. But their Revitalized EP is so god damn good.

It may be buried in the comments... But UL had a demo and two albums, Oz Factor and Blue Room, before the self titled... both albums released on Sony/Columbia Records. Decent skate punk a'la Bad Religion. Shallow and Superman are great tunes to check out from that era.

Nickelodeon UK tried to market The Starting Line as the next "boy band with instruments" over here as Busted and McFly were doing really well, but when their song played on the station it was at 6.59 and the feed cut to Turner Classic Movies as soon as the chorus hit at 7 😂 I remember being so annoyed. British kids tv stations had a weird time schedule back then.

Sworn enemy got a ton of hype in the NYHC scene back in the day

Mr. Rags lol. I completely forgot about that store. I bought my first pair of skate shoes from there for my 7th back to school shopping. DC Mantecas baby

It’s amazing that this video came out now because I saw the Starting Line with the All-American Rejects and New Found Glory a few nights ago

I saw Unwritten Law open for 311 and Papa Roach. They freakin jam. Save Me was another semi-radio hit off that last album you showed.

I need to tune into the stream more these are the kind of conversations I love

I was too young for saves the day when they released through being cool. Grew up in the late 2000s TBS/ADTR era. Listened to it a few years ago bc of finn and its become one of my fav albums ever. Thanks man

I remember when Unwritten Law were big, I remember going to see other bands that opened for them. Then I went to a pennywise show and Unwritten Law not only opened, but was the very first band on a 4 band bill. And it wasn't like the two after them were necessarily "big" bands either.

I came across saves the day in 99 when I worked at a laser tag place. And we had tvs that played videos…. Ya you heard him live and his voice didn’t match…. Still love them still listen to them.