FIVE EIGHT – “I’M ALONE”
STATIC ERA RECORDS
The powerhouse pop-punk heroes Five Eight have spent nearly four decades proving that raw energy, resilience, and uncompromising honesty never go out of style. As they were in their heyday of the early 90’s, Five Eight is Mike Mantione (vocals/guitar), Dan Horowitz (bass/vocals), Patrick “Tigger” Ferguson (drums), and Sean Dunn (guitar)
Live, the band is a force of nature. Mantione’s unfiltered characters and the group’s relentless on-stage combustion leave audiences equal parts exhilarated and unhinged — exactly as intended. As Rolling Stone witnessed from one of their SXSW shows earlier this year.
“They make music that’s familiar and exciting, the kind of rock you play when you’ve decided that you’re committed to the game for life.”
Now nine albums in, Five Eight are charging forward with renewed fire. Recently signed to Static Era Records — the forward-thinking independent label launched by musician and industry veteran Jay Reason (with an award-winning retail hub in Milford, CT) — the band is gearing up for a prolific new era.
FILM REVIEW: WEIRDO: THE STORY OF FIVE EIGHT
Following the release of a punk ripper “Take Me To The Skate Park”, Five Eight now delivers its melodic counterpunch “I’m Alone”.
Written by Mantione on graph paper in a home studio he never got to use after a sudden family move, the track is a cathartic blast of power-pop-punk — recorded live in one take. Minimalist and muscular, it kicks off like a tight three-piece in a Brooklyn warehouse, tension slowly twisting before it erupts into a widescreen bridge. Urgent. Vulnerable. Loud. Alive.
“I’m Alone” arrives as the band’s story is being newly celebrated in Weirdo: The Story of Five Eight, a documentary by Atlanta filmmaker Marc Pilvinsky. After a series of sold-out Southeastern screenings, the film premiered at SXSW 2025, shining a long-overdue spotlight on the band’s cult-beloved legacy.
Says frontman Mike Mantione “Some songs I agonize over. Some just show up like I’m listening to a radio in my mind. With “I’m Alone” the music and lyrics wrote themselves There’s things going on inside us, I don’t think I really ever know, whether you’re calling it the unconscious or the subconscious. For me songwriting is like going into a cave of bright light and trying to bring that light to the surface from deep down in the darkness. What’s missing from everyday existence is that sense of being “ok”, alone. Everything we do is to keep us away from the crushing sense of loneliness and meaningless and for a second in the song you’re driving away from everything you fill you life up with and you’re left with just a post card to communicate with. We need to be alone, we need time to be with our imaginations, to be with our thoughts, to be with our feelings, ourselves in the middle of this incredible blue marble”.
Five Eight
[Single]
(Static Era Records)
Release Date: November 7, 2025
Artist Links
Background Photo Credit: Marc Pilvinsky
