The Menzingers

Thanks to Tim for the request, and Shadman for helping out with the post.

The Menzingers are a four-piece punk band from Scranton, Pennsylvania that started in 2006, though members had been kicking around the Scranton scene with other bands before. This band is one of those rare few who just do everything so fucking right. They pump out kick ass song after kick ass song, keeping them catchy as hell, but never sound repetitive or uninspired. It's a true talent for a band to keep their music fresh while staying within the realm of their own sound. They've got great lyrics, great melodies, and most of all, great energy. You can actually hear the band brimming and burning with passion and really putting everything they've got into everything they do. It comes across live, and even more impressively, on record. They seamlessly transcend the division between gruffness and melody, managing to balance the two simultaneously. They're a fucking awesome band, and I would seriously advise checking out everything below if you haven't, because this band cannot disappoint. I'm missing their demo from 2006, so if anybody has it, it would be infinitely appreciated if you share it. Enjoy.

FFO: The Bouncing Souls, Jawbreaker, Hot Water Music, Against Me!, The Lawrence Arms, The Loved Ones, Fake Problems

A Lesson In The Abuse Of Information Technology (2007)
1. Alpha Kappa Falls Off A Balcony
2. Sir Yes Sir
3. A Lesson In The Abuse Of Information Technology
4. Ave Maria
5. Coal City Blues
6. Keychain
7. Even For An Eggshell
8. Richard Coury
9. Straight To Hell (The Clash cover)
10. Victory Gin
11. Cold Weather Gear
12. Clap Hands Two Guns
13. No Ticket

Hold On, Dodge (2009)
1. Sunday Morning
2. Lilith Avi
3. They Speak Of My Drinking, But Never Of My Thirst
4. Red, White, And Blues
5. Kentucky Gentlemen (Bonus Track)

I Was Born (2010)

1. I Was Born

2. Mea Culpa Cabana

3. My Friend Chris

Chamberlain Waits (2010)

1. Who's Your Partner

2. I Was Born

3. Home Outgrown

4. Deep Sleep

5. Time Tables

6. Male Call

7. Tasker-Morris Station

8. So It Goes

9. No We Didn't

10. Rivalries

11. Come Here Often?

12. Chamberlain Waits

Mixed Signals (2011)
5. Irish Goodbyes

On The Possible Past (2012)

1. Good Things

2. Burn

3. Ava

4. Sun Hotel #2

5. Sculptors and Vandals

6. Casey

7. I Can't Seem To Tell

8. Freedom Bridge 

On The Impossible Past (2012)

1. Good Things

2. Burn After Writing

3. The Obituaries

4. Gates

5. Ava House

6. Sun Hotel

7. Sculptors And Vandals

8. Mexican Guitars

9. On The Impossible Past

10. Nice Things

11. Casey

12. I Can't Seem To Tell

13. Freedom Bridge

The Bouncing Souls/The Menzingers (2013)

1. The Bouncing Souls - Blackout

2. The Bouncing Souls - Burn After Writing (The Menzingers cover)

3. The Menzingers - The Shakes

4. The Menzingers - Kate Is Great (The Bouncing Souls cover)

Rented World (2014)

1. I Don't Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore

2. Bad Things

3. Rodent

4. Where Your Heartache Exists

5. My Friend Kyle

6. Transient Love

7. The Talk

8. Nothing Feels Good Anymore

9. Hearts Unknown

10. In Remission

11. Sentimental Physics

12. When You Died

After The Party (2017)

1. Tellin' Lies

2. Thick As Thieves

3. Lookers

4. Midwestern States

5. Charlie's Army

6. House on Fire

7. Black Mass

8. Boy Blue

9. Bad Catholics

10. Your Wild Years

11. The Bars

12. After The Party

13. Livin' Ain't Easy

Toy Soldier / The Freaks (2018)

1. Toy Soldier

2. The Freaks

No Penance b/w Cemetery's Garden (2019)

1. No Penance

2. Cemetery's Garden

Hello Exile (2019)

1. America (You're Freaking Me Out)

2. Anna

3. High School Friend

4. Last To Know

5. Strangers Forever

6. Hello Exile

7. Portland

8. Strain Your Memory

9. I Can't Stop Drinking

10. Strawberry Mansion

11. London Drugs

12. Farewell Youth

From Exile (2020)

1. America (You're Freaking Me Out) (From Exile)

2. Anna (From Exile)

3. High School Friend (From Exile)

4. Last To Know (From Exile)

5. Strangers Forever (From Exile)

6. Hello Exile (From Exile)

7. Portland (From Exile)

8. Strain Your Memory (From Exile)

9. I Can't Stop Drinking (From Exile)

10. Strawberry Mansion (From Exile)

11. London Drugs (From Exile)

12. Farewell Youth (From Exile)

Bad Actors (2023)

1. Bad Actors

Some Of It Was True (2023)

1. Hope Is A Dangerous Little Thing

2. There's No Place In This World For Me

3. Nobody Stays

4. Some Of It Was True

5. Try

6. Come On Heartache

7. Ultraviolet

8. Take It To Heart

9. Love At The End

10. Alone In Dublin

11. High Low

12. I Didn't Miss You (Until You Were Gone)

13. Running In The Roar Of The Wind

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Handguns

Handguns are a five-piece pop punk band from Harrisburg, PA, formed in 2008. They are currently signed to Pure Noise Records. None of the members of the band are the original members. The band currently consists of vocalist Taylor Eby, guitarists Brandon Pagano and Kyle Vaught, bassist CJ Wilson, and drummer Woody Spokas.

Handguns are extremely kickass in every way. They're fun to listen to and catchy as hell. They're one of the best pop punk bands out there right now, and you should definitely listen to them if you're a fan of The Story So Far, Man Overboard, Giants At Large, The Wonder Years, Forever Came Calling, etc.

Demo (2008)
1. Hey, You're Being Unfair
2. Jake Can't Drive 55 (Riverwinds)
3. Looks Like We've Got Ourselves A Conversation Starter
4. Exit 4 Off Jersey Turnpike

MMIX Summer Tour EP (2009)

1. This Isn't Fun Anymore

2. Two Weeks

3. Vamos!

4. She Blinded Me With Science

5. We Bleed Rainbows

6. I Won't Miss This Place At All

Anywhere But Home (2010)

1. My Own Captain

2. Two Weeks

3. Pave The Way

4. Harbor Water

5. Last Year

6. Fingers Crossed

7. Anywhere But Home

Don't Bite Your Tongue (2011)

1. A Year In Review

2. Scream Goodbye

3. Sink Like Lead

4. Best Excuse

5. Gag Reflex

6. Wait Up

7. I Hope He Kills You

Handguns / Forever Came Calling Split (2011)

1. Handguns - Smoke And Mirrors

2. Handguns - Swallowing Knives

3. Handguns - Where Are You?

4. Forever Came Calling - Knott Sky Or Luckie?

5. Forever Came Calling - Contrition

6. Forever Came Calling - Front Porch Sunrise

Angst (2012)

1. Porch Light

2. Drag You Out

3. Long October

4. Stay With Me

5. Early Retirement

6. Song About You

7. Capsize

8. The War At Home

9. Nice Choice, Nice Life

10. Still Running Away

11. Fade Away

12. Where I Belong

Life Lessons (2014)

1. Anvil

2. Sleep Deprived

3. Highway Robbery

4. Heart vs Hand

5. I Can Relate

6. The Loved Ones Who Hate Us

7. Queens

8. Give And Take

9. Waiting For Your Ghost

10. New Years Resolution

Disenchanted (2015)

1. Self Portrait

2. The Worst In Me

3. My Lowest Points

4. Low Spirits

5. Bury me

6. Carbon Copy Elitist

7. Disenchanted

8. Conjuring My Youth

9. Missed Calls

10. Recovery 

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The Front Bottoms

The self-titled and Talon Of The Hawk have been removed by request from their label.

The Front Bottoms are a two-piece acoustic/indie/pop/dance/folk/punk/yougetthepoint band from Bergen County, New Jersey that formed in 2006. They used to be a three-piece, but after switching their third member (a keyboard player) two times, they settled with keeping two members and playing with touring musicians. They put out most of their albums themselves, until they signed to Bar/None Records, which put out their past two albums. Their debut with Bar/None contained the songs from a previous EP titled Slow Dance To Soft Rock (which I don't have the individual album of) and what would have been their next self-released EP titled Grip 'n' Tie, which was never released since the songs ended up on the self-titled album.

This band has an amazing sound. They write some insanely catchy songs that tend to be upbeat in sound (usually because of the drums), but not always in subject matter, which touch upon personal matters, but don't do so in a dramatic, heart-on-the-sleeve way. The lyrics tend to be little stories and anecdotes, and are simply told as if they were campfire songs or stories (albeit sometimes very depressing ones) The songs are mostly acoustic guitar-driven in addition to the drums and vocals, though their earlier material features keyboard and their recent stuff features a ton of instrumentation, like bass and trumpet in addition to other odd instruments. Vocally, Brian Sella is quite quirky, which can be both a good and bad thing depending on who's listening. I personally love it, of course, and think it matches the band's personable sound and aesthetic perfectly. For some reason, his tone kind of reminds me of Tom DeLonge (blink-182), though the stylings of the two are very different. Maybe there's a hint of Jeff Rosenstock (Bomb the Music Industry!) in there too, but Brian's really got a voice of his own.

I love this band, and would probably say that they are one of my personal favourite modern bands. So I would highly, highly recommend anybody checking them out, because they are unbelievably good, and just keep getting better. Seriously, this band can do no wrong. Enjoy.

Brothers Can't Be Friends (2008)

1. Carry Me Down The Street

2. I Wrote A Book

3. Jim Bogart

4. Molly

5. Not Yet

6. So Sick We're Dead

7. The Winds

8. The Bells

Note: Not the official track list order

I Hate My Friends (2009)

1. You Wouldn't Be Laughing

2. Lipstick Covered Magnet

3. Lonely Eyes

4. Taking My Uzi To The Gym

5. Current Events

6. Pale Beneath The Tan (Squeeze)

7. Push-Ups

8. Twelve Feet Deep

9. Be Nice To Me

10. If You're Happy

 

My Grandma Vs. Pneumonia (2009)

1. Flying Model Rockets

2. The Wrong Way

3. Just As Big Twice As Swollen

4. Christians Vs. The Indians

5. The Distance That I Fell

6. The Supply Of Power (La La La)

7. So Sick We're Dead

8. The Cops

9. Water-gun-knife

10. More Than It Hurts

11. Hello World

12. I Wrote A Book

2009 Sampler (2010)

1. Christians Vs. Indians

2. Flying Model Rockets

3. More Than It Hurts You

The Front Bottoms (2011)

1. Flashlight

2. Maps

3. Looking Like You Just Woke Up

4. Mountain

5. Rhode Island

6. The Beers

7. Father

8. Swimming Pool

9. The Boredom Is the Reason I Started Swimming. It's Also the Reason I Started Sinking

10. Bathtub

11. Legit Tattoo Gun

12. Hooped Earings

Talon Of The Hawk (2013)

1. Au Revoir (Adios)

2. Skeleton

3. Swear To God The Devil Made Me Do It

4. Twin Size Mattress

5. Peach

6. Santa Monica

7. The Feud

8. Funny You Should Ask

9. Tattooed Tears

10. Lone Star

11. Back Flip

12. Everything I Own

Rose (2014)

1. Flying Model Rockets

2. Lipstick Covered Magnet

3. Twelve Feet Deep

4. Jim Bogart

5. Be Nice To Me

6. Awkward Conversations

GDP/The Front Bottoms (2015)

1. GDP - Limousine

2. GDP - Parking Garage

3. The Front Bottoms - Wolfman

4. The Front Bottoms - Handcuffs

Cough It Out/West Virginia (2015)

1. Cough It Out

2. West Virginia

Back On Top (2015)

1. Motorcycle

2. Summer Shandy

3. Cough It Out

4. HELP

5. Laugh Till I Cry

6. Historic Cemetery

7. The Plan (Fuck Jobs)

8. Ginger

9. 2YL

10. West Virginia

11. Plastic Flowers

Needy When I'm Needy (2016)

1. Joanie

2. Tighten Up

Going Grey (2017)

1. You Used To Say (Holy Fuck)

2. Peace Sign

3. Bae

4. Vacation Town

5. Don't Fill Up On Chips

6. Grand Finale

7. Trampoline

8. Raining

9. Far Drive

10. Everyone But You

11. Ocean

Ann (2018)

1. Today Is Not Real

2. Somebody Else

3. I Think Your Nose Is Bleeding

4. Pale Beneath The Tan (Squeeze)

5. Lonely Eyes

6. Tie Dye Dragon

In Sickness & In Flames (2020)

1. everyone blooms

2. camouflage

3. jerk

4. the truth

5. montgomery forever

6. the hard way

7. leaf pile

8. new song d

9. Fairbanks, Alaska

10. love at first sight

11. bus beat

12. make way

Theresa (2022)

1. More Than It Hurts You

2. The Bongo Song

3. Hello World

4. The Supply Of Power

5. The Winds

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Defeater

Defeater are a melodic hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. They began in 2004, though used different names (most notably "Sluts") and had slightly different line-ups until 2008, when they became Defeater and the band that they are known as being today. They put out their first album under the moniker Defeater in 2008, titled Travels, on Topshelf Records before switching to Bridge Nine Records, which re-issued the album and put out all of their subsequent material.

Defeater are particularly known for their lyrics, which tell the story of a family living in America post-WWII. Each album focuses on a particular character, though the plots, characters, images, and certain lines tend to overlap and reoccur, which creates a consistency and ties the albums together. On Travels, the main character is the youngest brother/son. On Lost Ground, the main character is not actually part of the family, but the character does have an interaction with the youngest brother on a song from their debut ("Prophet In Plain Clothes"), and this EP is essentially the back story to their exchange. Empty Days & Sleepless Nights follows the older brother/son, and their newest album Letters Home is the story of the father. I don't really want to give away the stories in case anybody has yet to read/listen to them, but I will highly recommend that you do so, because they are quite captivating. Maybe I will do a summary thing for each album later, since it'd be pretty fun for me to do. I guess I could just add spoiler tags or something, if anybody would be interested in reading something like that.

When Defeater began, they got a lot of Modern Of Life Is War comparisons, for good reason of course. They did sound like them, therefore sounded amazing. For the record, they weren't really a "rip-off" band, they just had a lot in common. Defeater definitely had something great of their own going on, and continued to grow into that. They've always been really tight, and have managed to balance pummeling, rolling rhythms with melodic guitar lines, all the while fitting Derek's (vocalist) intense vocals at the forefront of this soundscape. They also experiment with some acoustic music, which is mostly the brainchild of Derek. On Travels, the second portion of "Prophet In Plain Clothes" is a country/folk song played solely on an acoustic guitar and topped only be Derek's croon. The last four songs on ED&SN are also acoustic-based, and sung instead of screamed/sung harshly. Apparently he was doing the acoustic thing before he was even in Defeater, and his solo acoustic project Alcoa has taken off in recent years.

I guess that's it to say, most people are probably already somewhat familiar with this band. They put on a really good live show, and people seem to really get into them. Enjoy.

Travels (2008)

1. Blessed Burden

2. Everything Went Quiet

3. Nameless Streets

4. Forgiver Forgetter

5. The City By Dawn

6. Prophet In Plain Clothes

7. Carrying Weight

8. Moon Shine

9. The Blues

10. Debts

11. Cowardice

Lost Ground (2009)

1. The Red, White And Blues

2. The Bite And Sting

3. A Wound And Scar

4. Home Ain't Never Home

5. Singin' New York Town

6. Beggin' In The Slums

Dear Father (2011)

1. Dear Father

2. I Don't Mind

Empty Days & Sleepless Nights (2011)

1. Warm Blood Rush

2. Dear Father

3. Waves Crash, Clouds Roll

4. Empty Glass

5. No Kind Of Home

6. White Knuckles

7. Cemetery Walls

8. Quiet The Longing

9. At Peace

10. White Oak Doors

11. But Breathing

12. Brothers

13. I Don't Mind

14. Headstone

Live On BBC Radio 1 (2012)

1. But Breathing

2. Warm Blood Rush

3. Brothers

4. Empty Glass

Letters Home (2013)

1. Bastards

2. No Shame

3. Hopeless Again

4. Blood In My Eyes

5. No Relief

6. No Faith

7. Dead Set

8. No Saviour

9. Rabbit Foot

10. Bled Out

Abandoned (2015)

1. Contrition

2. Unanswered

3. December 1943

4. Spared In Hell

5. Divination

6. Borrowed & Blue

7. Penance

8. Remorse

9. Pillar Of Salt

10. Atonement

11. Vice & Regret

Doused In Mud, Soaked In Bleach (2016)

1. Blew (Nirvana cover)

Note: Full comp here

Where Eagles Dare (2016)

1. Where Eagles Dare (The Misfits cover)

Defeater (2019)

1. The Worst Of Fates

2. List & Heel

3. Atheists In Foxholes

4. Mothers' Sons

5. Desperate

6. All Roads

7. Stale Smoke

8. Dealer / Debtor

9. No Guilt

10. Hourglass

11. No Man Born Evil

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