Bands to Remember: The Airborne Toxic Event

Illustration and Words By Ella DeCosta

Sometimes a band comes by that’s just too special to forget. Whether they are still around or haven’t played in years, this series of articles focuses on those special bands that don’t get enough credit.

The Airborne Toxic Event is an indie rock band. Their lead singer, Mikel Jollett, was a Harvard student and lover of literature and writing. One week in March 2006, Jollett went through a rough breakup, found out that his mother had cancer, and that he had an auto-immune disease that caused both alopecia and vitiligo. These harsh events lead him to write many of the songs that appeared on The Airborne Toxic Event’s first album. He named the band after a section in White Noise, a book written in 1985 about an industrial accident, dubbed in the novel as “the airborne toxic event.” Jollett relates the fear of mortality that the protagonist feels after the accident to the feelings that he felt after that traumatic week in his life, the reason the band began. 

I don’t remember my first time listening to The Airborne Toxic Event, but I do remember hearing them around the house. My dad loves the song “Sometime Around Midnight” almost as much as he loves the Red Sox. The two of us have mostly different music tastes, but he’s right about this band--they’re something special. I remember showing “Sometime Around Midnight” to my high school best friend who has a completely different music taste, and she said just hearing the intro of the song made her tear up. The Airborne Toxic Event is so special because they pour their emotions into each song and aren’t afraid to be unique with their music. Their blend of rock and orchestral music is refreshing and allows people with all different music tastes to come together. 

The band’s first self-titled album was released in 2008, with a total of ten songs and five bonus tracks. The album starts off with “Wishing Well.” The track builds up perfectly, starting off quiet and exploding into a banger that you can’t help but scream at the top of your lungs. “Gasoline” is upbeat and catchy, with lyrics that make you long for your younger years, even at the age of 18. The fifth track, “Does This Mean You’re Moving On,” is the perfect song to walk to. “Sometime Around Midnight,” the hit of the album and sixth track, is one that you listen to in bed at full volume, staring at the ceiling. It starts with the band’s violist, Anna Bulbrook, playing a slow, melancholic melody that carries throughout the song hauntingly. The combination of the mesmerizing sound and emotional lyrics make this song one to remember. The album ends with “Innocence,” an emotional and reflective track that perfectly ties the album together. There is a song on the album for every mood and situation, making it so well done. 

The Airborne Toxic Event has put out four albums since then, each with a unique feel and sound. Although some members have come and gone, they have not lost their original creativity and feel that makes their music so beautiful.