Somewhere around 2010, young musicians all over the country rediscovered the power of pairing emotionally vulnerable lyrics with jangly, guitar-driven hooks. Joyce Manor soon emerged as a top talent in this so-called emo revival. Their 2016 effort, Cody, saw the band push their frenetic sound in new directions—with an acoustic track, a handful of longer songs and some of their most concise writing yet. Though much of the album deals in anxiety and existential pain, it also has some bright spots. When “Constant Headache” starts blaring and the monster guitar crescendo hits, The Ritz will feel like one big group hug. (YK)

Joyce Manor
Fri, 8pm, $20+
The Ritz, San Jose

Mixtapes are one of a few bands (like Joyce Manor and Lemuria) that have had near instant overwhelming success in the punk community via interest from punknews.org and online resources.

Punk kids immediately went crazy for their first EP, Maps in 2010, despite it not offering anything particularly innovative to punk rock—it just had the right blend of bouncy, catchy songwriting and sweaty, fast-paced energy.

By the end of 2011, they had over 30 songs released and in 2012, they released their debut full length, Even on the Worst Nights, which continued with their formula of infectious hooks, hyper-punk rock instrumentation and dueling male/female vocals—only a little more refined.

In a lot of ways, Mixtapes’s music comes off like fellow pop-punker, Lemuria, but not nearly as dark, nor do they discuss relationships and their emotional landscape with as much nuance. Instead they focus on the everyday details of their lives and mix it up with plenty of humor.

It’s almost like listening to a friend ramble on about their day. It’s packed with so much random information and unrelated jokes. This isn’t to say it’s not without heavier topics. There’s just simply so much humor—or in some cases optimism—used to offset the feelings of doom and gloom. (“We get scared, so we stay. We’re so comfortable in the saddest way. What’s the point? It’s missing. So let’s cut the bullshit and get to living.”)

Some of the best lines, though, are those random bits of obscure humor. (“You keep listening to that Bon Iver record/I don’t get it, but maybe that’s the point.”) It’s the kind of material that cheers you up for no good reason, when you’re feeling down for no good reason.

Mixtapes play Musik, inc on Monday October 8th at 5pm. Tickets are $10.