In October 2020, I tweeted a picture of the album cover Intersections by Into It. Over It. with the caption “this album ages like fine wine”. Not long after, numerous people retweeted it, sharing their same love for the album nearly a decade later. When it came out, it received side eyes from fans (myself included) because it was the antithesis of Proper. Going from a highly polished pop punk album where nearly every track exuded high energy to a slower, experimental follow-up that was a head-scratching move. As time went on, the unconventional sections of this album – such as the 90 second long feedback heard in the intro to “A Curse Worth Believing” – became what everyone loved. The sections of this album that feature Evan doubling down on blaring gritty guitars and vocals became a blueprint for what emo bands try to achieve today.
Many emo bands still try and fail to recreate Intersections, overlooking the lyricism used in the record. Sure, every teenager had an itinerary of masturbatory vocab words because they listened to A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out in 2005 but they still miss the high bar that Into It. Over It. set. In all of my relistens, I always make note of the line “You pulled the calm from your charisma, once precociously arranged” from “Spatial Exploration” to include in the made up subgenre my brother and I have called “vocabulary emo”. But it’s not just the scholarly word choices that make the lyricism of this album excel. On later tracks like “No Amount of Sound” (my personal favorite IIOI track), lines such a “Footsteps, they followed mother’s death, they followed suit and peeled the paint of the walls” sung over eerie string scraps and slowcore riffs, paints a clear picture in your head of someone’s mental decline. It’s a record that you should put on and read along to the lyric sheet as you listen or read the time synced lyric sections on streaming.
In retrospect, Intersections is my favorite Into It. Over It. album. I admit that my initial judgment was wrong and it’s a lesson to revisit albums you didn’t like or judged too harshly, and see if time, lived experiences, or simply musical preferences changed. I unabashedly rate this album a perfect 10/10 with my only gripe being “Upstate Blues” and “No Amount of Sound” should be switched on the tracklist. As a matter of fact, I saw Evan play “The Shaking of Leaves” into “No Amount of Sound” in 2016 with mewithoutyou (Editor’s Note: someone at this show was wearing a hat that said “Butt Stuff 2016.”) and he broke a pedal trying to loop the feedback in between songs.
I caught one of the final stops of the ten year anniversary tour that just wrapped up and if you missed it, you can stream the live recording available on streaming now and check out pictures from the celebratory night.
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Kyle Musser//@godvfwine
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