photo credit: Eric Sperrazza | Mayday Parade

Written Eric Sperrazza

In 2011, emo pop/punk wunderkinds, Mayday Parade, released a self-titled album that would go on to be one of their best-selling and most memorable LPs. With that album, the band gave us the classic track, “Oh Well, Oh Well.”

Ten years later, Mayday Parade decided to celebrate that seminal record release with a tour playing the record’s hits for the fans and sharing the stage with the likes of bands, Real Friends and Magnolia Park.

I headed out to one of my favorite venues in Philadelphia, Union Transfer. This old 1800s Farmers Market-turned-music venue still has that solid 19th-century wooden architecture intact on the inside as well as chandeliers of the period hanging from the tall ceiling. It always provides a uniquely vintage backdrop to whatever live act is performing and I can also confidently attest to the fact that, acoustically, there is not a bad seat or even a bad vantage point in the house.

The first to take the stage was Magnolia Park. So a bit of a backstory. In February, my oldest daughter came down to my office, and said, “I have a band I want you to hear. I found them on TikTok.”

photo credit: Eric Sperrazza | Magnolia Park

The video she played before me? Magnolia Park’s video for “10 For 10.” I was instantly blown away and was legitimately excited to see this band perform. Perform they did with the explosive electricity of a pop/punk band that is having just as good of a time as the crowd and is legitimately excited to be there.

Lead vocalist, Joshua Roberts, stayed in constant motion as if being propelled by landmines from point to point, on stage. Playing viral hits like “Sick of it All,” “Back on My Bullshit,” and “10 For 10,” the crowd was energized and in the palm of their collective hands.

Real Friends was the second to perform and I got the biggest ringing endorsement of this band from fans right on the floor. In between Magnolia Park and the Real Friends sets, I began talking to a couple that was equally blown away by Magnolia Park. These two random would-be music historians were filled with excitement about Real Friends, comparing them to some of the biggest names in punk and hardcore. Names like Black Flag and the Descendants. If these two individuals are not part of the Real Friends PR team, they should be. They had me so excited to see this band, I was actually mad at myself for not being in the know, before.

photo credit: Eric Sperrazza

To that, Real Friends ripped into songs like “Me First, Nervous Wreck” and “From the Outside.” I felt like I was wearing my Santa Cruz Skateboards Corey O’Brien t-shirt while reading Thrasher Magazine and listening to kickass hardcore punk once more. It’s amazing how closely music can take you back to an exact time and location in your life and Real Friends did just that.

Finally, Mayday Parade arrived and gave the audience the entirety of their album, A Lesson in Romantics, which was celebrating its 15th anniversary. Every track was performed in chronological order from “Jamie All Over,” “If You Wanted a Song Written About You All You Had To Do Was Ask,” “Take This Heart and You Be the Anchor…,” from start to finish. They even encored with a snippet of “My Hero” in honor of Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters. The set wrapped up with “Oh Well, Oh Well” and a gracious bow out before the lights lit back up Union Transfer.

I’m compelled to first address the fact that there was not a fair-weather fan to be seen in that venue. Every single person from the balconies to the front row came for Mayday Parade. They knew every word to every Mayday Parade song and they came to the party with Mayday Parade. The sheer static electricity from everyone’s excitement on that floor was enough to charge an iPad. That crowd was an essential piece of the success of that show and lead vocalist, Derek Sanders, knew that and was a kind-spoken tour guide through it all. He brought the fans in and the audience claimed the show as a result. It is always like watching a miracle take place when I witness people of all walks of life, united in being a part of a musical experience that moves all of them equally. That is something I will always remember about this show.

The greatest takeaway for me, however, will be getting to say that “I was there” when Magnolia Park broke. Mark my words, they are going to be the future of pop-punk.

Connect with Mayday Parade

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Connect with Magnolia Park

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Connect with Real Friends

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Photo Gallery

It’s been over two decades and the lyrics: “he was a boy and she was a girl / can I make it any more obvious? / He was a punk and she did ballet / what more can I say?” have been living rent-free in my head, as well as every other girl for the last twenty years. The song, “Sk8er Boi,” was the anthem of every girl in the early 00s, which was released off of Avril Lavigne‘s debut album Let Go in 2002, which has sold over 16 million copies to date and has made the album the best-selling album of the 21st century by a Canadian artist.

Lavigne has come back with a vengeance, and frankly, it was only a matter of time with the current wave of pop-punk music making a comeback. This punk princess or shall I say queen has released Love Sux, a record that we all so desperately needed to hear.

Listening to her music is like reading from your own diary, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There is no question that she has returned to her original pop-punk roots with her upbeat energy and love ballads. Lavigne packs this album with lyrics that are not only empowering to women everywhere but also a reminder that men are not the sun and you can accomplish anything (with or without a man by your side).

Love Sux was co-produced by the legendary John Feldman and Travis Barker with some help from boyfriend, Mod Sun. Lavigne decided to collaborate with some of the biggest names in the industry right now including Machine Gun Kelly, Blackbear, and Mark Hoppus on this album.

This record will be a fast fan favorite for anyone who has been craving old-school Avril, the pop-punk emo queen that we all grew up listening to. Each and every track is so different and vulnerable, it’s almost impossible for it not to be relatable. The words she has strung together is simply brilliant between her energetic single, “Bite Me” with lyrics of “Hey you/you should’ve known better/better to fuck with someone like me/hey you/forever and ever you’re gonna wish I was your wifey”, transitioning to her slow power ballad about love, “Dare To Love Me.” 

“Dare To Love Me” is my personal favorite on this album with lyrics speaking to the heart, ripping open an emotional place that not many want to ever go to. The lyrics that spoke the most are “I try to let down my guard/but I cover up my scars/yeah, there’s no denying/it’s not that I don’t care/it’s just I’m fucking scared.” It’s terrifying. The expressions are so honest that you’ll be needing a box of tissues by the end of it.

Avril Lavigne set the bar twenty years ago when she earned the title of punk princess, which has now transcended into a punk queen and continues to raise it with this album.

Connect with Avril Lavigne

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

The New Orleans-based pop-punk band, Neutral Snap, share their new single, “Maybe Sometimes,” a track about their personal experiences with mental health, specifically anxiety and depression. The track is out today.

“‘Maybe Sometimes’ is our biggest callback to our first album out of all the songs on our upcoming record,” shares the band. “The song touches on our personal experiences dealing with depression and anxiety, along with our methods of coping with them. There’s also a ripping guitar solo, so it’s got a bit of everything.”

The song is off the band’s upcoming sophomore album, Tell Me How I Feel, which will be released on October 22. Pre-order Tell Me How I Feel here and pre-order the vinyl here.

Tell Me How I Feel Track Listing

1. Go Ahead
2. I’m Crazy (But You) Like That
3. I Think I’m Falling In Love With A Girl From The Circus
4. Checked Out
5. Maybe Sometimes
6. Chuckled
7. This Is What I’ve Been Doing
8. Does Anyone Actually Know Hilary Swank? Like, Personally?
9. Awkward Conversations
10. Shady Oak
11. Sleeves

Connect with Neutral Snap

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

photo credit: Killian O’Neil

Written by Killian O’Neil

It had been 572 days since I had been to a real concert since the pandemic hit. Yeah, I’ve seen some acoustic sets and “drive-in” shows but nothing like I was about to witness. It had been over a year and a half that I was able to be amongst people belting out lyrics, at the top of my lungs, getting lost in the music. Not only was it my first show back, but my fourteen-year-old self was freaking out because I was on my way to see Hawthorne Heights, Senses Fail, and Bayside for their 21 Years of Bad Luck Tour.

The night kicked off with The Bomb Pops, an American punk rock band from San Diego, California. Their 20-minute set, which truthfully felt like an eternity, and the only thing I was able to make out was when she started to say “sh*t” and “f*ck” while engaging with the crowd. They sound exactly as you think they would when it comes to punk rock.

Shortly after that, it was time for Hawthorne Heights to grace the stage, and the emo began to penetrate the air. The lights dimmed and the light show began. Watching them take the stage and the crowd reacting like little children on Christmas was a beautiful thing to bear witness to. Hawthorne Heights opened with “This Is Who We Are,” which brought back every memory of teen angst I could remember.

Everyone in the band was giving 100% and more on stage and it was quite clear that they were beyond happy to finally be playing in front of real live human beings like every other living breathing musician out in the world.

Hawthorne Heights wound down the set with frontman, JT Woodruff, talking about how everyone in the crowd was about fourteen when they first started to listen to them during the years of ‘hating their parents and hating school’ and now everyone is in their thirties, having children and learning other ways of coping and now life is better.

It honestly was a crazy transition that was happening as the entire energy of the venue shifted into a time machine. It was as if at that moment, we weren’t in our late twenties or thirties, but instead, we were all scared teenagers looking for someone to understand what the hell we were going through.

photo credit: Killian O’Neil

They closed out the set with “Ohio Is For Lovers” and the entire building erupted in unison singing and chanting the lyrics everyone so dearly holds onto. Even after all these years, nobody missed a beat and the energy was high.

Twenty minutes seemed to be the magic number when it came to set breaks because, at exactly twenty minutes on the dot, Senses Fail came out.

There are far and few words in between for me to describe the next portion of the night because I was so blown away by the performance that Senses Fail put on. I wasn’t really sure what to expect because the last time I saw them I was fifteen and squashed like a sardine in a sea of people at a Taste of Chaos show. The only thing I could recall from it was that I was trying to breathe.

Boy was I pleasantly surprised, they have officially made it to the top five live performances that I have ever bared witness to. Senses Fail opened the set with “Choke On This” and from there on, I got lost in the music and emotion of it all.

Every single member of that band brought a whole different type of energy and vibe, frankly at one point I asked myself, “Is this a Senses Fail show?” James “Buddy” Nielsen, the lead singer, was going above and beyond. He reminded me of Adam Lazzara from Taking Back Sunday with everything from his stage presence to his crowd interaction. At one point during the set, he did a cartwheel across the stage and continued to belt out at the lyrics while the crowd was singing to him. Every last member of that band put on a performance that was unforgettable and jaw-dropping.

Towards the end of the set, Senses Fail went down with the sickness and click click boom and somehow rounded back to one of their own songs, it was insane, to say the least. I’m still in awe of the way they commanded the stage and cannot wait till they grace Philly again.

It was finally showtime for Bayside and I was anxiously awaiting to see what they were about to bring to the stage after what I just witnessed earlier in the night with both Hawthorne Heights and Senses Fail.

photo credit: Killian O’Neil

As Bayside came on, they opened with “Already Gone” and everyone practically lost their sh*t and went under an emo trance if I’ve ever seen one. Bayside carried different energy that night. It wasn’t anything like Hawthorne Heights or Senses Fail. It had a more subdued, low-key vibe. It was complete night and day from watching the excitement of Senses Fail and now watching Bayside perform.

The entire crowd was engaged and mesmerized, holding onto every last lyric that was being sung. The drummer, Chris Guglielmo, was killing it beyond words while the vocalist, Anthony Raneri, belted out each and every note with every ounce he had.

At one point, Raneri said, “We started a band because we were insecure and in need of validation, so thanks for helping out.” The crowd erupted into nothing but screaming and clapping. They still couldn’t hold a candle to Senses Fail from earlier that night.

When I looked up, I saw numerous people leaving while they were still on stage. In all the years of going to concerts, I have never seen so many people walk out of a venue while the headliner was still performing. I even asked someone what they thought of Bayside and the response was, “I liked their older stuff” and that was it.

Bayside is a band that is such a keystone in the “emo” community that it’s okay not to be bouncing off the walls with energy. As far as I’m concerned they’re just a better band to listen to on a record than seeing live and that is perfectly okay. All in all, this was a kick-ass show and if you can ever get out to see any of these bands, I would highly recommend it.

Connect with Bayside

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Connect with Senses Fail

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Connect with Hawthorne Heights

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Dublin-based indie-rock/electro-rock artist and producer, Dizmation, announces the release of his brand new full-length album, Sea Area Forecast, due out independently on February 10.

The opening track, “One More Time With Feeling,” is a melancholy, indie-rock jam that features musician and producer Joey Doyle to showcase his punk-esque writing style. Though, this particular track reminds a little bit of Tame Impala with elements of synths.

The song, “Still,” is an incredibly catchy song with an infectious melody, it could, in fact, be one of my favorite indie-rock songs I’ve heard this year. It almost reminds me of pieces of American singer-songwriter legend, Matthew Sweet. I definitely could hear this song on college radio maybe.

I really loved the song, “Oh, The Beauty,” because of its melody, and the pieces of the song that kept the rhythm together and made things 3-dimensional.

The track “Portal,” featuring Aniela was a nice change with the feature of vocalist Aniela. I really enjoyed this track in particular. The synths and 80’s vibe really gave it a celebration of style.

“Limelight” was just a generally great pop-rock song similarly to, again, Matthew Sweet. I can’t seem to get away from comparing him to Matthew Sweet on some of these tracks, yet some of these he doesn’t sound anything like him. That’s the beauty of this record.

Sea Area Forecast Tracklist:
1. One More Time With Feeling
2. Still
3. Oh The Beauty
4. In Arcadia
5. Portal (feat. Aniela)
6. Halcyon Then Gone
7. Limelight
8. Dodgy Connector
9. Take It Away
10. Humanizer
11. Sight For Sore Eyes

Connect with Dizmation

Instagram | Twitter | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | YouTube | Spotify

photo credit: Rich Myers

Written by Killian O’Neil

Anyone who grew up in the Philly area and listens to pop-punk knows who The Starting Line is. They are one of the building blocks of the Philadelphia pop-punk scene as far as I’m concerned. The Starting Line has been around for well over two decades and still brings the same energy as when they were just starting out.

This past week I had the pleasure of being able to catch one of their live streams. On January 29th, they took to the cameras for the last installment of the live stream with a “Best Of” live stream, which featured some of the band’s best and favorite songs.

I was forgetting what it was like to hear music live (well, as live as I was going to get right now) and was somewhat skeptical of this whole live-streaming business these days, but boy was I wrong. I was eagerly sitting on my couch ripping a bong when the music started to blast through the speakers.

The Starting Line decided to turn it up to 100 right out of the gate and play the track, “Up And Go,” which immediately made me want to be in a sea of a hundred sweaty people around me who were all belting lyrics at the top of their lungs. The energy that the band was projecting made me, and I’m sure every other The Starting Line fan, felt like we were in the early 2000’s back at a show at The Electric Factory.

For anyone who doesn’t know that song, it is a lively and danceable treat for the ears and soul. If you don’t know the lyrics, you will wind up belting them out anyway. It was only a matter of seconds before I noticed myself tapping my foot and thrashing my head as if I was pressed against the barricades. There is something to be said about the energy of this band and how it is evident in their performances. If it’s one thing I know about life, it’s that you cannot fake chemistry in anything, and especially with music. Watching this live stream, I’ll tell you something, and that is that they still have it all these years later.

Before the music, there was a Q&A with the band touching on how all of this came together and their thoughts on it. I was blown away when I heard Mike Golla (guitar/vocals) say that “Twelve to fifteen of those songs we haven’t played since we recorded them.” The next thing you know, it just cuts to The Starting Line in front of a camera jamming like it was the mid-2000’s.

For a band to pick up and basically relearn every song they have ever put out, is extremely impressive and almost unheard of. According to Kenny Vasoli (vocals/guitar), This live stream, in particular, was all of the “deep cuts” that we miss and love from The Starting Line. The majority of the setlist seemed to be split up between Say It Like You Mean It and Anyways and a few other fan favorites sprinkled in.

You know when you’re at a show and the singer just stops and goes on a rant about something? It’s the single best thing because at that moment you’re reminded they are exactly like you. Right, it’s awesome. With that being said, this little rant made my night.

“This next song went gold and that just happened within the past couple of months and this is my first gold record ever and we really appreciate that. I mean it’s fucked up like twenty years into our career getting that, it’s like fucked up. So deep gratitude and thanks,” is what Kenny had to say about, “The Best of Me,” which is what they closed out the live stream with. It is an all-time favorite to the masses.

I have found that there is a correlation with artists that don’t sugarcoat shit during shows when they perform. They are the ones that are still around twenty years later playing their hearts out because speaking their truth is their passion.  Shortly after that song ended he continued on with talking about how they have never done an encore in the last ten years and how he’d like this to be called a “non-core” which had “Classic Jazz,” “Surprise, Surprise” and “Island.”

I will be honest with you here, I wasn’t sure how I was going to react to watching The Starting Line as a live stream. The entire concept of watching someone play live music via the Internet alluded to me until the other night, but my mind has been changed. The only thing to make that night even better (considering the obvious) was hitting the merch table before leaving the show. A girl can dream, but I can only hope that we get blessed with another live stream or new music in the not-so-distant feature.

Connect with The Starting Line

Website | Facebook | Instagram

The pop-punk giants, New Found Glory, are starting their holiday season with a brand new single, “December’s Here.” You can check out the track here.

The band will also be having a holiday special streaming on December 18. The band will be having a Christmas special titled ‘Home For The Holidays with New Found Glory.’ The special will feature 10 original New Found Glory holidays songs. Seven of them are brand new that they are premiering for the first time. Plus, you’ll hear re-recordings of “Nothing For Christmas,” “Snow,” and the Nothing God Can Stay classic, “It Never Snows In Florida.”

The new single is the band’s first new music since their most recent studio album, Forever + Ever x Infinity, which was released earlier this year by Hopeless Records.

“This is the record our fans have been waiting for us to make,” guitarist Chad Gilbert shares, “The old now feels new and fresh. It was a blast finding ourselves again.”

New Found Glory is Jordan Pundik (lead vocals), Chad Gilbert (guitar), Ian Grushka (bass guitar) and Cyrus Bolooki (drums).

Connect with New Found Glory

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Rising progressive pop-punk band, Frontside, share their new track, “Einstein Killed Me,” from their forthcoming EP, Closer To Closure, due out February 5, 2021, on Revival Recordings. Pre-order the EP here.

Frontside is a North Carolina-based band that formed in 2008. When the band came together, they had a common goal: to create music that would not only be catchy for any music fan but “would also satiate their urge to add a more technically impressive dimension to their songs.”

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

Scotland’s own indie-pop band, VISTAS, shares their debut sharing their debut album, Everything Changes In The End! The Edinburgh-based group is made up of Prentice Robertson (vocals), Dylan Rush (guitars), and Jamie Law (bass).

Inspired by the indie bands of the 2000s, VISTAS sets to “push the excitement and community spirit of the genre into the new era.”

The three musicians went to school together, created the band, and have become extremely close-knit, as they share their love of community and togetherness that VISTAS says “defines their music.”

“The sentiment of the record is about being there for your family and friends,” Robertson says. “It’s about being there for people, and the overall feeling that stuff takes a bit of time to work itself out, and takes a bit of time to get better. There are things you’ve got to deal with, but it’s easier to deal with these things if you’ve got people there alongside you, and then you can be there for people as well…” The relatability in their interpretation of the album alone is what pulls me closer to their music as I took a dive through the record.

VISTAS begin their album out with a short instrumental build into their next track, “Everything Changes In The End,” which just cranks the excitement all the way to 10! The song has this intense and infectious energy that gives listeners just a small taste of what this album has created.

“Teenage Blues” keeps the energy high and makes me want to jump right out of my couch and dance around my apartment without a care in the world.

Their next songs “15 Years” and “Sucker” continue to explode energy and free-spiritedness, while also have lyrics that listeners can relate to. Listening to these songs, “Sucker” in particular, kept a smile on my face from beginning to end. There’s something about their music that makes you unplug from your problems and frustrations, and allows you to enjoy the music for what it is, and having a damn good time while doing it.

This next song “Tigerblood” became drastically different compared to the others but in a familiar way. Their relatable lyrics and catchy melodies stayed intact, but they changed their approach which gave them an edgier side. The dirtied guitar effects and the grit behind the vocals gave the album the exact change it needed, without going overboard. “This was our first song that really connected on radio and playlists,” the band explains, and honestly, I can see why.

“The Love You Give” is a personal favorite of mine. Musically, it was more diverse than the others because of the different rhythmic patterns and melodic structure in the lead vocals. The same can be said for “Sentimental” as they also use this song to discover different musical ideas to bring to life.

The biggest turning point for the album is “Retrospect” without a doubt. “‘Retrospect’ was the first song that we put out that people started to learn the words to,” VISTAS explains. “Both ‘Tigerblood’ and ‘Retrospect’  were “set to provide as the backbone of [VISTAS] debut album.”

This song is refreshing and fun, and they finally dive into different places vocally. There’s more risk in this song, more diversity than any other song on the album because there are so many times that the differences this song had, makes it stand out above the rest.

“November” became a fun ending to an already spectacular album. It was the perfect mix of nostalgia and reminiscing on good times with relatable content and songs that will hopefully last for a long time.

While we feel our summer slipping past us, Everything Changes In The End definitely brought it back to me. It’s the perfect amount of fun and carefree, with so many relatable topics sprinkled throughout the album. The timing of the album couldn’t be more perfect, and I hope they became as big here, if not bigger, than what they are overseas. “VISTAS is looking to make the circle complete and inspire a whole new generation…” and if they keep in the direction they’re going, I have no doubt we, as a community, will get to see it unfold.

Connect with VISTAS

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

The lead single touches upon mental health and is a “non-judgmental observation of how society copes with the pressures of modern society.”

In a press release, the band shared, “‘Antidote’ is a song about coming to terms with the harsh reality that mental health issues plague modern society,” shares the band. “Whether it be anti-depressants or other forms of self-medication, some of us simply can’t get through a day without an antidote. This song touches on these sensitive topics regarding depression and anxiety and comes from a place of honesty as mental health affects so many of us including some of us in the band. So, whether your antidote is music, medication or whatever else helps you get through your day, sometimes it’s okay to admit that we all need a little help.”

The quartet, which is – Nic Machuca [vocals], Jordan Coyne [guitar], Jayden Marsh [bass], Nick Fanning [drums] – reminds you of the bands that saved your life when listening to them. The four-piece released their debut album, The Escape, in 2018, which showcased their ability to create arena-rock choruses similar to the likes of Blink-182, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more.

The upcoming EP was produced by Jimmy Messer [AWOLNATION, Kygo, Kelly Clarkson, Selena Gomez] and illustrates the band’s ability to craft a progression of incredible music that incorporates synths, scratching, and even some hip-hop was thrown in there as well.