The Menzingers

Pennsylvania-based outfit the Menzingers channel an energetic, melody-rich strain of punk marked by passionate lyrics and drive. Having built a following in the late 2000s, the group signed with Epitaph and reached wider recognition via the 2012 release On the Impossible Past, which earned placement on numerous critics' year-end lists. Later efforts such as 2017's After the Party, 2019's Hello Exile, and 2023's Some of It Was True found the Menzingers sharpening their approach into something more reflective yet equally forceful.

Though the band later shifted base to nearby Philadelphia, the Menzingers originated as teenagers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, drawing former members from local ska-punk acts Bob & the Sagets and Kos Mos. Co-frontmen Tom May (vocals, guitar) and Greg Barnett (vocals, guitar), joined by bassist Eric Keen and drummer Joe Godino, issued a self-titled demo in 2006 that reached Go-Kart Records and landed them a deal with the label. Their debut full-length, A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology, surfaced in summer 2007. The album connected with listeners and expanded the band's profile among punk audiences, especially devotees of the Lawrence Arms and Against Me!. They next partnered with Red Scare Industries for the 2009 four-song EP Hold on Dodge, then entered the studio with producer Matt Allison to record Chamberlain Waits, which appeared in April 2010 amid mounting anticipation.

The following year brought a contract with punk giant Epitaph Records, and in 2012 the group delivered its third album, the more mature On the Impossible Past. Continued growth led to the incorporation of earthy, sincere heartland rock elements on 2014's Rented World. Teaming once more with producer Will Yip, the Menzingers used 2017's After the Party to examine life in their thirties and revisit younger days, resulting in a heartfelt, melody-packed statement. The introspective direction extended to 2019's Hello Exile, which also addresses political and personal upheaval. The COVID-19 pandemic canceled touring plans for 2020, so the members, working in isolation at home, opted for an unfamiliar recording process. Issued that year, From Exile reinterpreted songs from Hello Exile in fresh arrangements, sometimes with updated lyrics, as each musician tracked parts separately and exchanged files to finish the sessions. The band marked the tenth anniversary of 2012's On the Impossible Past with a demo-focused reissue, then released its seventh studio album, Some of It Was True, in 2023. The 13-song set, which features the singles "Hope Is a Dangerous Little Thing" and "There's No Place in the World for Me," confronts aging with the same grit and resolve that have guided the group since the 2000s.