There was a lot of anticipation about this band before they ever released one song. Founder/vocalist Brett Detar had been in Zao, playing on one of their most popular albums, Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest, as well as the unique and creative–and tragically underrated/unheard–emo-core band Pensive before that. With The Juliana Theory, Detar, along with bandmates Neil Hebrank (drums), Chad Alan (bass), Joshua Fiedler (guitars), and Joshua Kisker (guitars) took emo in a more accessible direction.
The band released four full-length albums between 1999 and 2006, along with a few live recordings, EPs, and the seminal split release with Dawson High. The band broke up in 2006 with reunion shows in 2010 and 2017, and then returned as a duo–just Detar and Fiedler–in 2020. Along the way, each of the pair was involved in other projects, including Detar’s stint as an alternative country artist.
“To the Tune of 5,000 Screaming Children,” though it sounds like it’s written about a tragic disaster, is actually a cleverly worded dart aimed at armchair critics. A polemic, if you will, against all the keyboard warriors who simply criticize, without taking the effort or vulnerability of creating art for themselves:
We knew you’d hate this before we wrote it
So listen up, we’re telling you before you tell us
We’re not misinformed or misdirected
Functioning on your subjective
Your hatred only fuels us on
Check it out
Now how about a word or two on you?
You’re an alias, an email address
We lay a lot more out than you do
