Major League

Alright, I know it's been a long time since I posted anything in the pop punk vein (partially because I admittedly don't listen to a lot that doesn't involve Milo), but here's an essential modern pop punk band for those of you who have been waiting: Major League.

Major League are a four-piece pop punk band from Manuta, New Jersey that formed in 2007. They were a five-piece until 2014, when their singer left, and guitarist took over vocal duties. If you already listen to bands like Handguns, Seaway, State Champs, and Knuckle Puck, along with the obvious Man Overboard and The Wonder Years, you already have a pretty good idea what Major League sound like. Their songs are catchy, they've got a solid energy, and their production work is really good. They're currently signed to No Sleep Records. Enjoy.

The Truth Is... (2010)

1. I Don't Like You, Whatsoever

2. What You Make Of It

3. Take Me

4. Six Ways To Lie

5. Head Up, Kid!

6. From States Away

7. The Truth Is...

Variables (2011)

1. Subject to Change

2. Together and Tonight

3. Need I Remind You

4. Seasons

Mixtape (2011)

1. Some Kids Just Can't Hang

Note: This was a Japan-only release that contained both The Truth Is... and Variables, plus this bonus track

Hard Feelings (2012)

1. Hard Feelings

2. Walk Away

3. Twenty Seven

4. Arrows Crossed

5. Nightmares

6. Because Heaven Knows

7. Pull Me Out

8. Landslide

9. Home Wrecker

10. Final Thoughts

There's Nothing Wrong With Me (2014)

1. Wallflower

2. Graves

3. Pillow Talk

4. Kaleidoscopes

5. Just As I Am

6. Montreal

7. Little Eyes

8. Recovery

9. Devil's Advocate

10. Bruiser

11. Rittenhouse

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Former Thieves

Former Thieves were a four-piece hardcore band from Cedar Falls, Iowa. They came roaring out of their dead-end home state in 2010, with an EP on Mayfly, and were heard even louder on their sole full-length in 2011, put out by No Sleep Records. A year later, they made the choice to burn out instead of fade away, and had to break up, unfortunately. While they were around, they toured vigorously, with bands such as Every Time I Die, as well as bands just getting their start, such as Code Orange Kids, and toured with La Dispute, Defeater, and Native (where I first heard/saw them, and was absolutely blown away). They take influence from bands such as Converge, Coalesce, Every Time I Die, and Modern Life Is War. I haven't listened to these guys in a while, and meant to post them a long time ago. Listening to them again is just as good as before, both of their records are absolutely solid from front to back. Hardcore fans pay attention, this is important. Enjoy.

The Great And The Alleged Great (2010)

1. The Find

2. Waiting At Best

3. Old Age

4. Control And Illusion

5. Misfortune Teller

The Language That We Speak (2011)

1. Dead Horses Are Turned Into Glue

2. I Can't Get There From Here

3. Brilliant Exceptions

4. Trust Fund Kids

5. First World Blues

6. Everything Has A Price, Everything Is Stolen

7. Pacemaker Trendsetter

8. What's Real And What's Not

9. Bad Friends

10. The Language That We Speak

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Drew Thomson

Andrew (or Drew) Thomson is a singer-songwriter from London, Ontario, Canada. He is best known as being the lead singer of punk/hardcore band/gang Single Mothers. And as we all know, Single Mothers are the greatest thing to happen in a long time, so of course this solo project would be just as good, and damn, it is. The Hold Steady is still influence #1 (especially songs like "Citrus"), which warrants 0 complaints. The songs have similar topics too: girls, drinking, drugs, getting out of London, all that fun stuff. Like Craig Finn before him, Drew pulls all this off with two things: honesty and sincerity. There is no frat boy front here, just an open and vulnerable depiction of someone's actual life. Not only is that commendable, but it can be relatable. It's hard to find any artist who is so open about themselves, both good and bad, and Drew is a master at this.

The songs on Honesty Is A Confidence Problem (put out by Secret Voice) are straight-forward and simple, with Drew bearing it all about himself and the people around him with only the backing of a folk/punk acoustic guitar. His self-titled (put out by No Sleep) features a lot more instrumentation, and the songs span out a little more. Both albums are astounding, and show different sides of his musical output, all the while featuring the same catharsis and lyrical content. The guy's got a great voice, and is a genius in terms of lyrics. I am a massive fan of both his band and his solo stuff. I don't think there are a ton of bands out there that I find myself not only relating to so much, but actually impact me enough to find some comfort in that relation. It's corny as hell to say, but his music has helped me out a lot, and hopefully the same can be said for you. Try and buy his music instead, but if not, enjoy.

Honesty Is A Confidence Problem (2013)

1. Bad Catholics

2. Bus Pass

3. Wrong Girls

4. Shore

Drew Thomson (2014)

1. Saturday Night/Saturday Morning

2. Oxy

7-11, 17-11, 21-11, 28-11 (2015)

7-11

1. Missed Connections

2. Look what you did you little JERK

3. Conventional - wisdom

17-11

1. Please

2. Thinking About You

3. Liquid Shell

21-11

1. Drifter's Lip

2. Cemetery

3. Remember

28-11

1. Parade

2. Impala

3. Stephen King

Note: This was a series of EP's posted on his Bandcamp, November 2015.

From Just Behind The Bedroom Door (2015)

1. Me Talking

2. Growing Gross

3. Church Clothes

4. Stoya

5. Reputation

6. Another Night

Live At Apt. 2B (2016)

1. Intro

2. Stoya

3. Please

4. Shore

5. Bad Catholics / Parade

07/03/16 (2016)

1. Married To Flesh

2. Indicator Bird

3. Chamber

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Moose Blood

Moose Blood are an infectiously catchy emo/indie/punk band from Canterbury, England that formed in 2012. Right from their debut EP, Moving Home, Moose Blood came out with some incredible songwriting, mixing solid melodies with relatable lyrics, not to mention a very distinct vocal delivery. They sound like a blend of modern bands such as Transit, Man Overboard and Seahaven, mixed with older Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, and Jimmy Eat World. Moose Blood manage to craft massive guitar sounds, seamlessly intermingling melodic lead parts with walls of shimmering, distorted chords. They put out their first full-length in 2014 titled I'll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time on No Sleep Records. Though Moose Blood are just getting started, they've already put out some incredibly solid material that certainly makes them one of the best noteworthy bands in modern emo/pop punk. Try listening to "Bukowski" without singing along, it's almost impossible. Enjoy!

Moving Home (2013)

1. My Own Beat

2. Evening Coffee

3. Moving Home

4. Carbis Bay

5. Drive

6. Bukowski

Boston//Orlando (2013)

1. Boston

2. Orlando

Departures/Moose Blood (2013)

1. Departures - A Song For The Sunset

2. Departures - Closing Doors

3. Moose Blood - Stay Here

4. Moose Blood - Girl

I'll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time (2014)

1. Cherry

2. Anyway

3. I Hope You're Missing Me

4. Chin Up

5. Boston

6. Gum

7. Pups

8. Swim Down

9. Bukowski

10. Kelly Kapowski

11. I Hope You're Miserable

Blush (2016)

1. Pastel

2. Honey

3. Knuckles

4. Sulk

5. Glow

6. Cheek

7. Sway

8. Shimmer

9. Spring

10. Freckle

I Don't Think I Can Do This Anymore (2018)

1. Have I Told You Enough

2. Talk In Your Sleep

3. Just Outside

4. You Left In The Worst Way

5. All The Time

6. Can We Stay Like This

7. Pull Me From The Floor

8. Walk All Day With You

9. Such A Shame

10. Promise Me

11. It's Too Much

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Into It. Over It.

Well, here it is. This is easily the most requested band on here ever, and for good reason too. They have a very expansive discography which is near impossible to fully complete, but here's a very close selection of it. The only things I know of that are missing are two cassette releases (Chicago and Covers respectively), the second Daytrotter session, and their contribution to the Polyvinyl 4-track singles series. Thanks to everyone who helped find all of those. Everything else appears somewhere below. So if anyone has those things, please send them to me. Also, thanks to Jacob Shumaker for the help with this. Enjoy.

Into It. Over It. (IIOI) is mainly the project of Evan Thomas Weiss. Evan's origins are split between Chicago, Illinois, and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Prior to IIOI, he was a longtime member of The Progress, a band that he had started while still in high school. For a brief time he was also the bassist of Damiera. After The Progress broke up, Into It. Over It. was slowly formed. Starting in September 2007, Evan wrote and recorded a song every week until September 2008. This spawned 52 songs, which would appropriately become 52 Weeks, the first album released under the Into It. Over It. moniker. Each song was entirely performed and recorded by Evan himself. Some of his best material came out of this ("Anchor", "Batsto", "Pinky Swear", "High & Mighty", "Bullied Becomes The Bully",  "22 Syllables", etc.) and the most impressive part being that each song was constructed within the span of one week. Following this, he released a slew of splits with many great bands. His songs on those splits would later compile Twelve Towns. Into It. Over It.'s debut album, Proper, was released in 2011 on No Sleep Records. This is their first release with a true full-band lineup. With a few smaller releases in between, their second full-length, Intersections, came out in 2013 on Triple Crown Records. In addition to IIOI, Evan is also a member of Stay Ahead Of The Weather, Their / They're / There, and Pet Symmetry.

Into It. Over It.'s sound is basically an amalgamation of emo and indie rock with some singer-songwriter sensibilities. Some bands that they obviously draw influence from are Death Cab For Cutie, Braid, The Get Up Kids, and Owen. Their earlier material was more focused on Evan solely. Though a lot of early songs were recorded with drums, electric guitars, etc., his tours were mainly just him and an acoustic guitar, as were many of the early songs. As their career progressed, they shifted to a permanent full band dynamic. They are often heralded as being one of the front runners of the modern emo revival scene, and it's obvious why. They often tour and associate with bands within that realm of music (Empire! Empire!, You Blew It!, Foxing, etc.), but also go beyond the obvious contemporaries. They have played shows or released music with bands as diverse as Frank Turner, The Wonder Years, Former Thieves, Bomb The Music Industry!, and Such Gold. Overall they are an amazing, well-rounded band that everything should definitely give a try, as many of you obviously do. The essentials are 52 Weeks, IIOI/KOJI, Twelve Towns, Proper, and Intersections.

52 Weeks (2009)

1. Batsto

2. The Outcome Of All Our Lives

3. Heartificial

4. Anchor

5. Fak It

6. Introduce THIS To Your Parents

7. Everybody's (Fucking) Crazy

8. A Song About Your Party

9. Ashley's Big Adventure

10. The Worst Company To Keep

11. Friday At Brians (I Have To Be Up In Four Hours)

12. 30 Ft. Spirit

13. Next Stop: The Olympics

14. ATM Disaster Scenes

15. The Liquor Your Older Friends Bought

16. David Caruso TV

17. Spoon Full Of Salt

18. Sebadon't

19. All Thumbs Down

20. It's Not 2001

21. What's Written On Your Wrist

22. Even Adam Kevin Helen

23. Gin And Ironic

24. Gear Isn't Expensive

25. ChiKeyGo

26. 22 Syllables

27. Dan I.Y.

28. 53% Accurate

29. Clocked Out

30. New Careers

31. Second Rate Broadcasting

32. Corrugated Windows

33. Dude-A-Form (Dude Uniform)

34. Watching You Cry In Public

35. Can I Buy A V_wel?

36. Blaargh!!

37. Your Mantra

38. Open A Book

39. Starched And Hung

40. ...And I Bite My Nails

41. High & Mighty

42. The Bullied Becomes The Bully (Police Story v2.0)

43. Pinky Swear

44. Southern California In The 80's

45. We Organized Your Life

46. Rearrange My Life

47. Afternoon's Asleep

48. Up Up Done Done

49. Young Lungs

50. Wearing White

51. Rapid Shitty, SD

52. No Big Chorus

Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate)/Into It. Over It. (2010)

1. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - If We Had Found You Any Later, You Would Have Drowned

2. Into It. Over It. - Buffalo, NY

3. Into It. Over It. - Brenham, TX

Bob Nanna & Lauren Lo/Into It. Over It. (2010)

1. Bob Nanna & Laura Lo - I Do

2. Bob Nanna & Laura Lo - All Of A Sudden

3. Into It. Over It. - Nashville, TN

4. Into It. Over It. - Billings, MT

Everyone Everywhere/Into It. Over It. (2010)

1. Into It. Over It. - Augusta, GA

2. Everyone Everywhere - Batsto

3. Everyone Everywhere - Fakin' It

4. Into It. Over It. - Raw Bar OBX 2002

Into It. Over It./Pswingset (2010)

1. Into It. Over It. - Cambridge, MA

2. Into It. Over It. - Orlando, FL

3. Pswingset - Everything That Was Tired

4. Pswingset - Thanks For The Record

Snack Town (2010)

1. Castevet - Chilsen

2. Castevet - (Get) Bucktown

3. Into It. Over It. - Summerville, SC

4. Into It. Over It. - Pontiac, MI

Covers Cassette (2010)

2. Holding Hands With Me (Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start cover) 

3. I've Just Seen The Best I'll Ever Be (Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start cover)

Note: Missing tracks 1 & 4

IIOI/KOJI (2010)

1. Into It. Over It. - Wicker Park

2. Into It. Over It. - Humboldt

3. Into It. Over It. - Ravenswood

4. Into It. Over It. - Pilsen

5. Into It. Over It. - Logan Square

6. Koji - Most Of Everything

7. Koji - All Below

8. Koji - Matches

9. Koji - Shift

10. Koji - Giants Sleeping

Nervous Energies Session (2011)

1. Wicker Park

2. Humboldt

3. No Sleep Til Humboldt

4. Logan Square

Chicago Cassette (2011)

1. Wicker Park (Live Session)

2. Humboldt (Live Session)

3. Ravenswood (Live Session)

4. Pilsen (Live Session)

5. Logan Square (Live Session)

Into It. Over It./Such Gold (2011)

1. Into It. Over It. - Washington, DC

2. Into It. Over It. - Portland, OR

3. Such Gold - Minstrels

4. Such Gold - The World That You Live In

Twelve Towns (2011)

1. Nashville, TN

2. Orlando, FL

3. Brenham, TX

4. Cambridge, MA

5. Summerville, SC

6. Westmont, NJ

7. Augusta, GA

8. Buffalo, NY

9. Billings, MT

10. Portland, OR

11. Washington, DC

12. Pontiac, MI

13. Augusta, GA (acoustic)

14. Billings, MT (acoustic)

15. Brenham, TX (acoustic)

16. Pontiac, MI (acoustic)

17. Portland, OR (acoustic)

Snug (2011)

1. Anchor

2. 22 Syllables

3. Portland, OR

4. The Bullied Becomes The Bully

5. No Sleep 'till Humbolt

Proper (2011)

1. Embracing Facts

2. Discretion & Depressing People

3. Fortunate Friends

4. No Good Before Noon

5. Write It Right

6. Midnight: Carroll Street

7. Connecticut Steps

8. Staring At The Ceiling

9. An Evening With Ramsey Beyer

10. Where Your Nights Often End

11. P R O P E R

12. The Frames That Used To Greet Me

Daytrotter Session (2011)

1. Welcome To Daytrotter

2. Nashville, TN

3. Pinky Swear

4. Bustin' (Iron Chic cover)

5. Anchor

6. Raw Bar (Everyone Everywhere cover)

Scott & Aubrey's Wedding 7-Inch (2012)

1. The Forecast - The Reasons (The Weakerthans cover)

2. Into It. Over It. - Need You Around (Smoking Popes cover)

3. The Swellers - El Scorcho (Weezer cover)

4. Bomb The Music Industry! - Punk Rock Girl (Dead Milkmen cover)

Glamour Kills Tour Split (2012)

1. The Wonder Years - Anchor (Into It. Over It. cover)

2. Polar Bear Club - Skipping Stone (Transit cover)

3. Transit - Resent And Resistance (Polar Bear Club cover)

4. The Story So Far - Wrightsville Beach (A Loss For Words cover)

5. A Loss For Words - Quicksand (The Story So Far cover)

6. Into It. Over It. - Don't Let Me Cave In (The Wonder Years cover)

Daytrotter Studio 10/24/2012 (2012)

1. Welcome to Daytrotter

2. No Good Before Noon

3. Where Your Nights Often End

4. Connecticut Steps

5. Embracing Facts

6. The Frames That Used To Greet Me

7. What's Written On Your Wrist

Life Is Suffering (2013)

1. Wearing White

2. Anchor

Into It. Over It./The Great Albatross (2013)

1. Into It. Over It. - A Curse Worth Believing (Demo Version)

2. Into It. Over It. - The Bullied Becomes The Bully (Live On WKDU)

3. The Great Albatross - Summer's Gone (Single Version)

Intersections (2013)

1. New North-Side Air

2. Spinning Thread

3. A Curse Worth Believing

4. Spatial Exploration

5. Favor & Fiction

6. The Shaking Of Leaves

7. Upstate Blues

8. No Amount of Snow

9. A Pair Of Matching Taxi Rides

10. Obsessive Compulsive Distraction

11. Your Antique Organ

12. Contractual Obligation

Polyvinyl 4-Track Singles Series: Into It. Over It. (2014)

1. Arsenic

2. Old Lace

Owen/Into It. Over It. (2015)

1. Owen - Poison Arrows

2. Into It. Over It. - Poor Souls (Owen cover)

3. Into It. Over It. - Local Language

4. Owen - Anchor (Into It. Over It. cover)

Standards (2016)

1. Open Casket

2. Closing Argument

3. No EQ

4. Vis Major

5. Your Lasting Image

6. Old Lace & Ivory

7. Adult Contempt

8. Required Reading

9. Bible Black

10. Who You Are Does Not Equal Where You Are

11. Anesthetic

12. The Circle Of The Same Ideas

Figure (2020)

1. They Built Our Bench Again in Palmer Square

2. Living Up To Let You Down

3. Hollow Halos

4. Perfect Penmanship

5. Courtesy Greetings

6. Breathing Patterns

7. A Left Turn at Best Intentions

8. Brushstrokes

9. We Prefer Indoors

10. Dressing Down // Addressing You

11. A Lyric in My Head I Haven't Thought of Yet

12. A Light in the Trees

Canada Sessions (2020)

1. Embracing Facts (Version 2.0)

2. 22 Syllables (Version 2.0)

Reciprocity (2022)

1. Hikes - Crown Shyness

2. Hikes - Better

3. Hikes - Sana All

4. Into It. Over It. - The Designated Place at the Designated Time

5. Into It. Over It. - The Captain Setting Course from Where We Met

6. Into It. Over It. - The Focus, the Compass, the Contract in Hand

Compilation Songs

For Agnes

Jingle Bell Broke

Assassination on X-Mas Eve

Message From Kathlene (Alkaline Trio cover)

Deep Red Bulls (Neko Case cover)

Note: All these songs appear on various compilations, but never on any of IIOI's official releases. Though they have other songs on compilations, all of those tracks also appear above on an actual album of theirs. 

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