The Jealous Sound, from Los Angeles, were one of the most criminally underrated bands from the early-2000s emo scene, formed around the same time as bands such as Jimmy Eat World, Piebald and The Early November. The Jealous Sound was active from 2000 to 2017 and the lineup on their landmark album "Kill Them With Kindness" consisted of Blair Shehan (ex-Knapsack, currently Racquet Club) on guitar and vocals, Tony Palermo (ex-Pulley/Ten Foot Pole, Papa Roach currently) on drums, Pedro Benito (ex-Sunday's Best) on guitar and John McGinnis on bass. The final lineup would consist of Shehan, guitarist Michael Richardson, drummer Bob Penn and bassist Jeremy Tappero. For their final album in 2012, Nate Mendel of The Foo Fighters was recruited to play bass.
Blair had experience being in a beloved emo band before, having been in post-hardcore band Knapsack in the early-mid 90s. When the band went on a final tour with At the Drive-In in 1999 and broke up due to drummer Colby Mancasola securing a career and to spend more time with his family, Blair wanted to evolve his sound more and keep his career as a musician going, and going he did. The Jealous Sound was formed shortly after. They released a self-titled EP in 2000 which consistent of many of the songs that they would feature on their debut LP 'Kill Them With Kindness', released in 2003. The self-titled EP was what you'd expect: demos that more or less have the same structures as the album versions, however a key difference being that Tony Palermo only played on tracks 1 and 5 on the EP (Tom Ackerman of Sunday's Best would play on the other tracks).
Tracks 1 through 7 of the Kill Them With Kindess record is one of my favorite stretches of music in emo album history, easily. The record starts off with the bands' biggest songs, 'Hope For Us', which showcases some of the best vocal and guitar harmonies the genre has to offer. 'Naive', 'Anxious Arms' (arguably my favorite song from the album) and 'The Fold Out' are 3 more tracks where the great song-crafting this band is known for comes into play, with solid hooks and production. The whole album does not overstay it's welcome at all, and these first several songs are quality examples of that. Later in the album, there is another "deeper cut" that seems to be ignored sometimes, which is "Abandon! Abandon!" This is the track where the album title is mentioned, in the very first line, "Could you kill me with kindess". Check that one out once you get the chance.
The Jealous Sound would go on tours and share stages with many bands bigger and smaller, including The Get-Up Kids, Sparta, Piebald, Switchfoot, Copeland and Balance & Composure. They played their last show ever in 2013 with Texas is the Reason and released their final album the year prior on Rise Records. It featured Nate Mendel of The Foo Fighters on bass and was mostly written in a recording studio owned by The Foo Fighters, as a fun fact!
To my knowledge, The Jealous Sound is permanently done now, with members doing things in other bands (Blair went on a reunion tour with Knapsack years ago, and he's in Racquet Club with Bob Penn.) or went on to have careers in other sectors or move away to focus on family. former guitarist Pedro Benito is a television and film music composer as of current, and former drummer Tony Palermo is in the rock band Papa Roach, who are currently going on a tour with Falling in Reverse.
Check out Kill Them With Kindess, it's an emo pop staple, and not one to be missed. I'd also heavily recommend checking out Blair's other band, Knapsack, if you like post-hardcore in the vein of bands like The Promise Ring, Texas is The Reason, Jawbreaker, etc (the edgier 90s stuff, I'd say).
Linked below are some links you can check out if you'd like to support the band by listening to their music.
The Jealous Sound Rise-Era Merch
The Jealous Sound Audiotree Session
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