Shel Silverstein

Bursting with ragged angst and energy and raw, earnest emotion, Canadian alternative outfit Silverstein started out on the emo-punk scene in 2000, mixing screaming vocals with anthemic, melodic peaks, decades later remaining a popular force of raging post-hardcore bliss. Inspired by local punk bands in their home town of Burlington, Ontario, frontman Shane Told put the band together with guitarist Josh Bradford and drummer Paul Koehler, naming themselves after author and songwriter Shel Silverstein. Bass player Billy Hamilton and second guitarist Neil Boshart later completed the line-up and Shane Told turned his personal diary entries into soul-bearing lyrics against a backdrop of snarling, spikey riffs and pace-shifting breakdowns on their debut album When Broken Is Easily Fixed in 2003. Their deal with Chicago alternative label Victory Records led to support slots with Fall Out Boy and Aiden, and they became firm favourites on The Warped Tour, as the album Discovering the Waterfront built a loyal following and Arrivals & Departures reached number 25 on the US Albums Chart. Based around a fictional story of a ship sailing away for new worlds but ending in mutiny, 2009's A Shipwreck in the Sand was an ambitious, all-consuming concept album, but they revitalised themselves and returned to their pop-punk roots on Short Songs which featured sharp, punchy tracks that were all less than 90 seconds long. Neil Boshart was replaced by the band's guitar tech Paul Marc Rosseau in 2012, and they returned to build thundering, epic, conceptual showstoppers on This Is How the Wind Shifts in 2013 and signed to Rise Records for I Am Alive in Everything I Touch in 2015. While continually evolving, they became more sonically adventurous than many of their peers and remained a band dealing in emotional rock rollercoasters, which united emo, punk and metal crowds across the US underground circuit. They have continued to put out albums at a consistent rate over the years, including 2022's Misery Made Me and hefty double album Antibloom / Pink Moon, which was written in the deserts of Joshua Tree National Park and released separately in February and September 2025.