Joyce Manor celebrated their new LP at Rough Trade (pics)
“there is a 2 year old up in the balcony rocking out harder than most people at Joyce Manor right now.” – Jenna L
photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Andrew Sacher
California punks Joyce Manor put out their third album and first for Epitaph, Never Hungover Again, yesterday (7/22) and came to NYC for a release show at Rough Trade NYC. Pictures are in this post.
It was technically an “in-store,” which at Rough Trade still means it happens in their concert room, but all you had to do get in was buy the record at the store and the band played an early opener-less show that started just after 7 and was over by 8. One might assume an early show like that would be a calmer one, but that wasn’t the case. Joyce Manor went from 0 to 60, beginning their set with “Catalina Fight Song,” the first single and most aggressive song off the new LP, and the crowd was already ready to raise fists and yell back every word. The next few songs came with maybe a second of space between them, packing one minute and a half punch after another.
The band split their set pretty evenly between the new album and their 2011 self-titled debut (and with the lengths of their songs, they got to play almost all of both), but threw in some treats too. The last time I saw them, “Violent Inside” was the only song played off their under-appreciated second album, and that was played last night but so was a revved up version of that album’s “See How Tame I Can Be,” which the band pointed out they’ve only ever played a few times before. They reached back to their 2010 EP for early fan favorite “Five Beer Plan” too. The wildest moments came from S/T standouts “Leather Jacket” and “Constant Headache,” which by far triggered the most stage diving of the night and ended up with both singers’ mics in the crowd, but the response for the new material was great too. Perhaps the reason Joyce Manor don’t play much of their second LP live is that they see the more ambitious record as more of a studio project, but the new album successfully combines the first two. It gives them the chance to rock out like their earlier material, but it was clear hearing a song like “Schley” next to a song like “Constant Nothing” that their songwriting and structures are continuing to progress.
Joyce Manor will be back in NYC when their proper tour hits Bowery Ballroom on September 15 with The Exquisites and Mike Bell & The Movies. Tickets for that show are still available.
More pictures from Rough Trade below…
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