Devon Kay & The Solutions

The songs of guitarist and vocalist Devon Kay anchor the sound of Chicago's Devon Kay & the Solutions, whose high-energy, melody-rich style fuses pop-punk drive with elaborate arrangements. On releases such as the 2022 album Grieving Expectation, the group paired bright horns, synth countermelodies, new wave production touches, and close vocal harmonies with crunchy guitars and restless tempos.

While still active in the Milwaukee pop-punk outfit Direct Hit!, Devon Kay launched Devon Kay & the Solutions near the start of 2011. At first the Chicago trio delivered Kay's witty material in a direct pop-punk vein, heard on the 2011 EP Never Punt and the 2014 full-length Losing It, yet the roster steadily grew to encompass keyboards and horns. Ska and new wave influences filtered into the songs, even as Kay preserved his knack for catchy, eccentric, and occasionally confessional writing across efforts including 2020's Limited Joy and 2022's Grieving Expectation.