HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: The Story So Far – The Story So Far
Three albums into their career, THE STORY SO FAR decided it was time to release a self-titled album. With it, the band moved to a more mature territory, pushing at the edges of the pop-punk box they had been put in with previous releases. Ten years later, their self-titled outing stands as an intriguing turning point for THE STORY SO FAR – a moment that marked the band attempting to define their sound, and a moment of exhaustion that spurred the trajectory of their career entirely.
Part of claiming this album as a statement of themselves as a band saw them moving to more mature territory. Bassist at the time Kelen Capener shared with Spotlight Report “We’ve been playing music consistently for the last seven years – we have a lot of time to kind of understand the way music has taught us and what music is and understand the appropriateness to place parts and refrain from doing certain things in songwriting. In this record, I think we’ve been able to take all those ideas and really put them together on an album and it brings out a lot of all the individual players on the record.”
This emphasis on their individual creative ideas coming together as one led the creative process. The band, at this time was made up of its current lineup: Parker Cannon (Vocals), Kevin Geyer (lead guitar), Will Levy (rhythm guitar), and Ryan Tord (drums), as well as Kelen Capener on bass, who would leave the band in 2022. Levy shared with New Noise “this is the first album that we’ve actually been able to write together. We have our own practice spot; when we’re home, we don’t have jobs or school. Our job is to go to our practice spot and work, and sit at home and write riffs and bring them to practice.” The final product was, as Capener noted “straight to the point of The Story So Far.”
A crucial part of getting to the heart of THE STORY SO FAR came from each voice. Individual influences across hardcore, pop-punk, emo and punk rock found their way into the album. Each track was recorded one at a time, as opposed to tracking parts, and, as Capener noted to Spotlight Report “from front to back it has a lot of sound diversity, probably cause we took [each] individual song as its own and recorded it piece by piece.” The studio was also a closed studio, with the band demoing some of the tracks with Chris Conley of SAVES THE DAY who offered feedback. The group also opened up the studio for a day to welcome in James Fisher (BASEMENT, DYNAMITE). Fisher observed a day’s recording and illustrated the artwork for the album, citing “guitar summoning, giant snake riding, erupting sky volcanos and waterfall drumming” as crucial elements in his vision of the day observed.
Released through Pure Noise Records on May 19th 2015, The Story So Far went to number 23 in the US and 70 in the UK. Prior to its release, Solo and Heavy Gloom were released to streaming, with the latter becoming the radio lead following the album’s release. The band went on to tour extensively, touring the US that May with FOUR YEARS STRONG, TERROR and SAVES THE DAY, and returning in the October with support from BASEMENT and TURNOVER. That summer saw them touring Japan, as well as Australia and New Zealand with MAN OVERBOARD. In December of 2015 they toured the UK with support from DRUG CHURCH and TURNSTILE. The following year, they were included on the Warped Tour.
The Story So Far was met with a lot of praise, namely for its position in the pop-punk boom of the mid 2010’s. The band were heralded by outlets like DIY for being “at the forefront for pop-punk’s continued relevance.” Yet, lead singer Parker Cannon was keen to express in interviews “I don’t know if I want to define it as pop punk anymore.” The Story So Far didn’t quite fit the cookie-cutter mold, with a heavier feeling and their hardcore influences permeating every track. Parker has since looked back on the time and reflected “I didn’t want to be pigeonholed as Mr Pop-Punk […] I didn’t like that at all, I didn’t listen to it, even though I was playing it.” This disillusionment, mixed with exhaustion from the rapid pace within which their career had been moving saw THE STORY SO FAR take a long break between their self titled album and its follow up Proper Dose.
Perhaps often overlooked in their discography, The Story So Far tells a story of a band on the fringes of the alternative mainstream, pushing at the edges of how they can define themselves in such a space. Ten years later, it demonstrates the early workings of the foundations of THE STORY SO FAR as we know them today.
The Story So Far was originally released on May 19th, 2015 via Pure Noise Records.
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