SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOYCE MANOR – I USED TO GO TO THIS BAR

JOYCE MANOR
I USED TO GO TO THIS BAR
EPITAPH RECORDS

Joyce Manor’s sixth studio album, I Used To Go To This Bar, arrives in classic Joyce Manor fashion. Coming in at 9 tracks and 19 minutes long, Barry Johnson, Chase Knobbe, and Matt Ebert spend the length of the record continuing to explore the ever-changing possibilities of the pop-punk landscape. Many things could be said about Joyce Manor regarding the sound and style of I Used To Go To This Bar, but every immediate criticism that could be launched towards how much they’ve ‘changed’ feels mute, as that is the exact vibe the LP is going for; this album feels like walking through a childhood home with a friend that you haven’t seen since high school, as you both reflect upon how much yourselves and the space around you have changed over time. This sense of nostalgia is even literal, as the band features a reimagined/remastered version of their classic track “Fuck Koalacaust,” which first appeared on their 2009 Epitaph Records demo and was later featured on the 2020 collection, Songs From Northern Torrance. The track appears on I Used To Go To This Bar, with the title, “Well, Don’t It Seem Like You’ve Been Here Before?” This is a reference to the main chorus of the track, which also acts as an undeniably more marketable title.

Not to be confused with jaded and stagnant creations, Joyce Manor’s I Used To Go To This Bar spends its time acknowledging and considering the history of the band; it feels like looking back on your youth with glowing beams of nostalgia, as opposed to trying to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle of their past releases. The instrumentals on this album are filled to the brim with high-fidelity guitars, sweet and pristine melodies, and harmonization on behalf of Barry Johnson. The vocal lines are familiar, but they never feel trite. In fact, listeners who wouldn’t typically listen to a contemporary Joyce Manor record are bound to appreciate how much they grow on you over a 19-minute runtime. In a sense, that’s one of the greatest things about Joyce Manor. All of their LPs have an incredibly distinct sound that clearly marks a point in the band’s artistic development, and after two decades, it doesn’t seem like they’re toning down the creativity any time soon.

Anyone who knows Joyce Manor knows that they don’t waste a closing track, and that is exactly the case here. Not only does “Grey Guitar” feature the album’s catchiest chorus, but it also features Johnson’s most impassioned and visceral vocal performance. The song is defined by its steady snare beat and driving distorted guitars. On past Joyce Manor records, these powerful guitars and screamed lyrics would be the standard. However, when placed at the end of such a composed and subdued record, it acts as a tear-jerker ending to a romantic drama film. The song feels like a continuation of the closing track on their last record, 2022’s 40 oz. to Fresno. Both of these songs open with an atmospheric building of noises, before diving headfirst into the cacophony of the respective album’s emotional core.

With their latest record, Joyce Manor is not trying to reinvent the wheel, but they aren’t trying to bore the masses, as well as their core fanbase, either. I Used To Go To This Bar is an incredibly fun and tightly paced journey through the types of sweet, nostalgic sentimentality that can be inferred from the title of the LP. The whole thing just feels like apple pie and warmer-than-not autumn nights; scratchy sweaters and polaroids; family traditions and holiday celebrations. It took me a few listens to properly warm up to it, but there’s an undeniable charm riddled throughout every nook and cranny of this latest album.

Artist Links