Much The Same

Chicago's Much the Same deliver brisk, tuneful punk rock that echoes the style of several key influences, above all mid-'90s skatepunk bands such as Lagwagon, No Use for a Name, and NOFX. The group first assembled in 1999 as Don't Look Down, logging numerous live appearances and cycling through multiple personnel shifts before adopting its present name in 2001 upon learning of an existing punk band—later a fellow Nitro Records act—already using that title. In the same year the band issued the EP Caught Off Guard through Tank Records, then cut a three-song demo that secured a deal with Anti-Flag's A-F Records. Frontman and guitarist Gunner McGrath, guitarist Dan O'Gorman, bassist Franky Tsoukalas, and drummer Mook delivered the label's first release, Quitters Never Win, in April 2003. Extensive roadwork followed, during which Much the Same appeared alongside A Wilhelm Scream, Rise Against, Anti-Flag, and Break the Silence. Jevin Kaye took over the drum chair from Mook in 2004, prompting the group to pause touring and focus on a new album. After battling intense writer's block, McGrath and his bandmates completed Survive—produced by Cameron Webb (Social Distortion, Over It)—for their fresh label home at Nitro; the record reached stores in late August 2006. McGrath departed the following April. Although the remaining members initially planned to recruit a replacement singer, van troubles forced cancellation of forthcoming dates, and the band dissolved less than a week later.