Youngstown, Ohio’s The Safest Ledge dropped an awesome five song EP on Friday, August 14 called The Space Between Words. Fans of Movements, Trophy Eyes, Turnover, and Silverstein will love every note. I had the chance to talk with guitarist Mason Boano about his top ten bands from Ohio, and things got crazy:
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Spirit of the Bear
SW: You’re mad punk rock. I never heard of this band.
MB: They’re quite big in Youngstown. At first I wasn’t into ‘em, but now I’m hooked.
SW: Local heroes, eh?
MB: So much mainstream potential.
SW: Enough to justify snow in the summer?
MB: (laughs) Yeah, totally.
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Attack Attack!
SW: TOTALLY CRABCORE!
MB: Everyone in my vicinity that wrote music after 2008 was influenced by this band in some way, shape, or form.
SW: I remember when they were on everyone’s lips. I still love that a band has a song called “The People’s Elbow”.
MB: Not a party foul!
SW: Certainly not (unintelligible growl).
MB: One more song shout out: “Fumbles O’Brian” is a great song title too.
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Jetty Bones
SW: To know you is to know that you’re going from extreme heaviness to Jetty Bones.
MB: Jetty Bones stands out from the rest of them.
SW: You clever, Mason.
MB: Thanks for bringing it up.
SW: Jetty Bones brought up the sensitive and introspective side of Ohio.
MB: Now let’s get back to some heaviness and the meme!
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Bilmuri
SW: Some people may take offense to Bilmuri being listed above Attack Attack, but I say it’s everything I wanted.
MB: Johnny Franck is NOT afraid to take musical risks.
SW: So many genres, so many yells.
MB: Crabcore < Memecore
SW: MATH, bruh.
MB: .mp4
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The Black Keys
SW: I’m stoked that we’re shouting out an underground two-piece from Ohio.
MB: They’ll eventually get their big break. Rubber city hardcore.
SW: I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.
MB: Akron, baby.
SW: Let’s rock.
MB: Christian rock?
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The Devil Wears Prada
SW: (blegh) I thought that this band was from Iowa because of “Dez Moines”.
MB: Nah, bro. Dayton.
SW: Who knew that Dayton was so angry?
MB: They’ve got a lot of airplanes there.
SW: I remember when this band was flying quite high.
MB: Dogs can grow beards all over.
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Twenty-One Pilots
SW: (ignores him) ANYWAY, here’s another underground Ohio two-piece.
MB: Gotta give ‘em credit!
SW: I do! Killer live show.
MB: Columbus should super proud.
SW: HOMETOWN!
MB: Why are you yelling at me, dude?
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Nine Inch Nails
SW: If you think I’m yelling now, listen to Trent Reznor.
MB: SLAVE SCREAMS!
SW: Ooo. Happiness in slavery. Kind of like Trump’s America. I disgress.
MB: Every day we’re getting closer to that.
SW: Side note: I think that this band should be #1 on this list, but it isn’t my list.
MB: Boo fucking hoo.
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The Plot In You
SW: That rhymes with The Plot In You. And number two.
MB: TPIY has been one of my favorite bands for nearly a decade.
SW: And talk about switching genres effortlessly.
MB: Landon Tewers is a beast.
SW: Dispose is one of my favorite LPs in recent history.
MB: Feel nothing? More like Feel SOMETHING!
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Citizen
SW: I have the feels now. We’re almost done.
MB: Youth defines the genre, and I don’t care if you’re mad that I listed this as #1.