Mayday Parade

American rock outfit Mayday Parade surfaced in the mid-2000s via their gold-certified debut A Lesson in Romantics, whose fervent emo-punk approach echoed the style of peers such as Yellowcard, Plain White T's, and All Time Low. Throughout the following decade the group added a tougher rock dimension that expanded their driving foundation across efforts including the Top 10 Monsters in the Closet (2013) and Black Lines (2015).

The band originated when two established Tallahassee acts, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment, combined forces, generating immediate local attention. Its original six-piece lineup featured vocalist Derek Sanders, vocalist/guitarist Jason Lancaster, bassist/vocalist Jeremy Lenzo, drummer Jake Bundrick, and guitarists Alex Garcia and Brooks Betts. Following appearances on the 2005 Warped Tour and scattered performances with Armor for Sleep, the Rocket Summer, the Starting Line, and Emery, Mayday Parade issued the EP Tales Told by Dead Friends before inking a deal with Fearless Records one month afterward. Work on their first album, A Lesson in Romantics, wrapped in January 2007, yet by its summer release founding vocalist/guitarist Lancaster had exited the group (he later formed Go Radio).

Early in 2009 the band moved to Atlantic Records and delivered Anywhere But Here, its first full-length without Lancaster. Two projects arrived in 2011: the Valdosta EP in March and, that October, a self-titled third album on Fearless that reached number 12 on the Billboard 200, the group's strongest chart showing at the time. Produced by Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount, Monsters in the Closet appeared in early 2013 (with a deluxe edition issued the next year) and entered the Billboard chart inside the Top Ten, improving on the prior album's position.

Black Lines, the band's fifth album, surfaced in 2015 and landed just outside the Top 20, marking the final release under the Fearless banner. Following a tenth-anniversary reissue of their debut EP in 2017, the group also revisited the gold-certified A Lesson in Romantics with added demos and commentary. They later joined Rise Records and returned with Sunnyland, their sixth album, in 2018.