GUSTER

Guster is an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts and they are ALSO my favorite band ever! They've released 8 albums; their first album came out in 1994, and their most recent album came out in 2019. Their main members are Ryan Miller (vocals and guitar), Adam Gardner (vocals and guitar), Brian Rosenworcel (percussion), and Luke Reynolds. They go on tour often, work with local symphonies, and have a music festival in Maine! Guster released almost all their albums on their Youtube for free, and I highly reccomend you go listen to their stuff (or support them on Bandcamp!).

Also, Adam Gardner has co-founded the organization Reverb which promotes environmental sustainability, especially in the music industry! You should check out their website for more information, their work is super cool!

MY THOUGHTS

They are my favorite band ever, they only release bangers, like everything they've made I really really love! I've known them my entire life; my parents are also big fans and I just kind of inherited their interest in the band. Though I was always exposed to their stuff when I was little, I feel like when I was in middle school I really started listening to them on my own time more and sort of found my own enjoyment ouside of what my parents would play for me. I feel like it's hard for me to say I enjoy everything a music artist releases but Guster is one of the few musicians I enjoy everything of. Graaah I love them so much!

All my friends are vaugely aware of Guster at least because I am always talking about them and reccomending their stuff. No one ever knows who they are when I say they're my favorite music artist! The only time I met anyone who knew who they were was one of my middle school teachers, who had recognized one of my t-shirts. Other than that, though, I'm usually the one who gets people into Guster. I aim to make this page exactly that: go listen to them NOW!!! (Please!!!)

I was lucky enough to see Guster live twice; once in 2019 for their Look Alive tour, and once in 2023 for their Hello Mister Sun tour (this was a symphony show too)! Both were really cool experiences! I don't typically go to concerts (but I would like to change this in the future) so these are really the only two concerts I've been to, but I am glad to got to see them perform live.

FAVORITE STUFF

ALBUM: Lost and Gone Forever

FAV SONGS: What You Wish For, Barrel of a Gun, Center of Attention, Happier, Fa Fa, Two Points for Honesty

WAAAAUUUUGGHHH my favorite Guster album and definitely one of my favorite albums of all time! I adore everything about the album. The percussion is amazing (the bongos.), there's just such an edge it feels like it has that their other albums don't. It's also got my favorite Guster songs overall; I always have associated the album with my OCs over the years and its always stuck with me. I even got a Lost and Gone Forever T-Shirt, I like the album so much. I also love the little instrumental breaks in Fa Fa (with the brass instruments) and Either Way (with the violins). Just overall, such a banger album, I highly reccomend it to anyone. I kinda wanna work on something based on the album someday to be honest...

ALBUM: Keep It Together

FAV SONGS: Diane, Careful, Amsterdam, Keep It Together, Come Downstairs and Say Hello, Red Oyster Cult

Amsterdam is my favorite song, like, ever. So automatically this album is great. I feel like this and Lost and Gone Forever are like the quintessential Guster albums to listen to. It's a little more relaxed but I really like the energy in some of the songs, like Amsterdam and Red Oyster Cult. And I adore the, like, everything about Come Downstairs and Say Hello, it's super good performed live. I kind of have a soft spot for the album cover because when I was little I was super interested in hummingbirds.

Also shoutout to the "Meow Mix" of the album. I don't know why but Guster covered the album with just like, some guy saying meow replacing all the lyrics, and it's really really funny. It's like a shitpost before shitposts. I mean, just listen to this.

ALBUM: Ganging Up On The Sun

FAV SONGS: Satellite, Manifest Destiny, One Man Wrecking Machine, C'mon, Dear Valentine

I feel like this is one of the more well-known Guster albums due to Satellite being on there; it's one of the few Guster songs I've ever heard on the radio, and usually the one song people might recognize. But I actually really like the rest of the album as well of course! Big fan of the vibes, songs like The Captain and C'mon feel a little different from the rest of their discography (in a good way). Not my favorite out of Guster's albums but it definitely holds a soft spot in my heart, as I listened to it a LOT in middle school.

ALBUM: Easy Wonderful

FAV SONGS: Do You Love Me, On The Ocean, This Could All Be Yours, Bad Bad World, This Is How It Feels to Have a Broken Heart

I very vividly remember watching the music videos for Do You Love Me and This Is How It Feels to Have a Broken Heart over and over with my parents when the album came out. I like that this album is overall more acoustic than some of their other albums, and in general feels so colorful and bright! I love all the uses of acoustic guitar and piano, and I also adore the album cover art... just a banger album that I'd say was my first album I really remember getting into!

ALBUM: Evermotion

FAV SONGS: Long Night, Endlessly, Simple Machine, It Is Just What It Is

I feel like Evermotion is a bit more experimental than their other albums; it's got an interesting vibe in their instrumentals, which I struggle to describe, so you just gotta trust me on this. Some of their songs are a bit on the slower side, which I think is interesting compared to their usual stuff. But I really like the direction the album takes overall, it feels really fresh! Plus, I always associate this album with car rides, because when it came out we would play it a lot when we went on drives or on vacation. It's a very calming album to me and I like listening to it when I need to rewind.

ALBUM: Look Alive

FAV SONGS: Look Alive, Don't Go, Hard Times, Hello Mister Sun, Terrified

Guster's most recent album as of writing this! Oh, this album was my jam when it first came out. The months leading up to its release was agonizingly long for me, and I listened to the singles on loop just to get some new Guster content. When the full thing did come out I would always imagine animatics of the songs with charcters I liked at the time; I honestly still do that, just with my OCs now. I feel like this album is also a little experimental too, but not in the same way as Evermotion is to me. I lowkey get OK Go vibes from the album?! I dunno how to describe it GHVDJKS

Fun fact! I have a little Look Alive pin I got from my first concert! I refuse to put it on anything because I'm terrified (pun intended) it'll get lost.