Joyce Manor, I Used To Go To This Bar

The California pop punk powerhouse Joyce Manor didn’t leave much to desire after so many iconic records. 40 oz. to Fresno was a cool experiment into plugging tried and true recording methods with a modern kick. However, the new digs are really something to behold. Instead of pushing for a plug-in primed and polished piece, Joyce Manor pays tribute to each wave of emo music in a rustic, dusted off form. Everything is perfectly meshed into a ball of future nostalgia. Don’t believe me? Let us take a look at the receipts.

The record begins on an incredibly strong note with “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives”. The title sets a stern and concerned tone immediately. It’s referring (I think) to Open AI Chief Research Officer Mark Chen, who is among the hundreds of AI execs that give all of us the heebie jeebies. It screams with that powerful stadium energy that we heard from third wave emo in the early 2000’s. The themes from this era of pop punk music continue through “Falling Into It”, gracing the song with electronic elements that we loved from bedroom punk bands of that time.

We take a slight left turn with “All My Friends Are So Depressed”, which pulls from so many things. You could make an argument that the first wave of emo music from the 80’s and early 90’s is at play here. The bands of the first wave weren’t exactly sure how to be loud, so we got brooding, folky songs like this one. The lyrics present a retrospective of the optimism of youth that fits into any John Hughes movie. This one had me tearing up and remembering to check in on some friends so there’s a fair warning. 

Now that we’re through with repressed memories, we move into second-ish wave emo. “Well, Whatever It Was” provides a capsule into the late 90’s and the bubbly drum beats that we grew so privy to back then. It’s not a pop punk album without a proverbial “ah, fuck it” song, and they make it fun here. 

The rest of I Used To Go To This Bar flips and flops through every wave all the way to the end. It’s there to make you feel old, or make you feel something for a sound you didn’t understand before. Either way: if the rhythm section alone doesn’t put you on your ass, vocalist Barry Johnson’s lyrics will. Produced by Barry Gurewitz of Bad Religion (and Epitaph CEO), this record really pulls into all of the roots of pop punk music into something fresh and palatable. It easily provides the listener with opportunities to recollect where they were when they were at this emo bar.