From the release of their self-titled debut album in 2011, Southern California’s Joyce Manor have perfected their style of conveying everything they need to in the shortest burst possible. Coming out of what felt like nowhere, yet relatable and universal to everywhere, the markedly original quartet felt like everybody’s best-kept secret.
Three years later, Joyce Manor have released another micro-album (2012’s Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired), signed to independent punk juggernaut Epitaph, and released 2014’s Never Hungover Again. Such a large move to the largest label in the genre was a bold move met with justifiable trepidation, yet the record reassuringly sticks to their trademarks of delivering anthems of often discordant and unpredictable punk rock, with tracks coming and going as fast as lead vocalist and songwriter Barry Johnson’s catharsis necessitates. It’s confessional without complaining, and on the verge of falling apart at any second, yet perfectly planned and organised. It’s a difficult balancing act to manage without sounding contrived and insincere, yet Never Hungover Again is the mark of a band working to their strengths and delivering all that is necessary and warranted by their energy and chemistry, not only with themselves as a band, but their connection to the listener.
Joyce Manor is that friend you don’t see that much or may not really know that well, but are fully comfortable with spilling your entire life story and anything that’s troubling you to. It’s the friend that you see now and then at a party or a show, talk for hours with, and trust every word they say. Neither of you need to acknowledge it or say it, but the relationship is completely mutual. Despite, or perhaps because of the fact that you don’t see this friend all the time, you have nothing but positive feelings and associations with them. This is Joyce Manor.
BY JOE HANSEN
Best Track: In the Army Now
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: JAWBREAKER, DESCENDENTS, SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE
In A Word: Trustworthy
