Joyce Manor

Joyce Manor: Joyce ManorJoyce Manor (2011)
6131 Records

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: BryneBryne
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on January 14th 2011In the past couple of years, we've seen more and more labels traditionally rooted in hardcore take calculated risks with new signings, and so far it seems to have paid off for everyone involved. End of a Year is thriving on Deathwish, Inc.; Lemuria's new album for Bridge Nine, Pebble, is garnering a.

In the past couple of years, we've seen more and more labels traditionally rooted in hardcore take calculated risks with new signings, and so far it seems to have paid off for everyone involved. End of a Year is thriving on Deathwish, Inc.; Lemuria's new album for Bridge Nine, Pebble, is garnering a ton of well-deserved buzz; Rise will be releasing new stuff from Transit and Man Overboard soon; and so forth. Labels are rightfully realizing that it's better to ape Jade Tree or Revelation than Facedown or Trustkill, and 6131 is the latest to knock it out of the park on an unconventional signing with Joyce Manor and their excellent self-titled debut.

While the band undoubtedly harbored a healthy SoCal influence on their Constant Headache demo, Joyce Manor pulls in those reins a bit in favor of a sound a bit more Bay Area-specifically, Jawbreaker. This isn't the blatant aping to which we've become so accustomed, though, as the band impressively incorporate their own touches to a well-worn sound, as readily apparent on the album's first two tracks, "Orange Julius" and "Call Out".

The band cites Weezer as an influence as well, and the sort of angsty, acerbic wit we heard and loved from Rivers Cuomo and company in the '90s is reincarnated here in rapid succession. "Beach Community", perhaps the album's best track, conveys hopelessness in a way rarely executed this well since Pinkerton. The song's mid-tempo foundation is heavy on melody, and some well-placed background vocals prefectly accentuate the hook toward the end of the track. Following it are "Derailed" and "Famous Friend", two similarly-leaning songs that both succeed on simple, effective guitar melodies. None of these three tracks eclipse the two-minute mark, and the brevity and directness works in their favor.

Two songs from the band's demo make the cut on Joyce Manor, and save an improved recording, "Leather Jacket" and "Constant Nothing" remain largely unchanged. Given that they were the most impressive tracks on Constant Headache, it's not entirely unexpected. "Nothing" is probably the most direct song here, with some quick guitar melodies and plenty of rapid drumming mostly bringing the noise.

Relatively speaking, Joyce Manor give themselves a bit of breathing room on the album's final two tracks. "Ashtray Petting Zoo" clocks in at a hefty 2:19 and essentially incorporates more of the same great melodies and desperate vocals heard in the previous eight songs, just in a manner that's a little less frantic and bit more fleshed out. Ditto for closer "Constant Headache", a three-minute opus with bouncy verses and heavy choruses, topped with some positively sweet two-pronged soloing to end the whole thing on an impressive note.

While these influences and approach are nothing new, the manner in which Joyce Manor is able to pull them off is astounding, especially given the band's youth. Plenty of groups have spent years trying to create an album as fully realized as Joyce Manor, and these kids nailed it on their first try. Unfair? You be the judge.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Thumbs (May 21, 2012)

Thumbs down.

glacierfanclub (April 13, 2012)

Went to two shows on Monday here in Dallas: Joyce Manor and ATDI. Couldn't have been more different. Crowd went apeshit for Joyce Manor, and they were playing along. People just stage driving all over the place and having a good time. During ATDI one person stage dived during One Armed Scissor and got kicked out.

Point of this: Joyce Manor > ATDI

burk (March 13, 2012)

I dig the lyrics, and the vocals are pretty rad. But I just can't get into the sound. And I love jawbreaker, old Alkaline trio and all that stuff some of you guys are comparing it with. I just find the sound/music pretty boring. Exept for "beach community" and "famous friend" so far. I really want to discover what's so amazing about this album, trust me. I'll give it a couple of more listenings I guess.

champion_sound (February 27, 2012)

Huge fan

CowboyKiller (January 4, 2012)

Have had this since it came out. Still gets heavy rotation. Much love for these guys.

thestowaways (December 22, 2011)

i started a zine. the new issue has a joyce manor interview. we talk about the upcoming record etc.
send $2 to

the stowaways
5082 wendover road
yorba linda, ca 92886

http://fuckthestowaways.blogspot.com/

kylekrische19 (December 8, 2011)

Fantastic. Their next record is one of the most anticipated releases for 2012

bobbie (December 8, 2011)

Awesome album, not even close to hearing it too many times

foolsgold (May 18, 2011)

This record is fantastic. Joyce Manor combines the desperation of early Alkaline Trio with the anger of OWTH in a beautiful way. This is definitely at the top of my Best of 2011 already, and will be difficult to unseat. Listen, now.

pavexparadise (February 11, 2011)

This record is perfect!

bonerjams (February 10, 2011)

This record is incredible. Their EP was too. Even that acoustic EP they did before that was really great. This is one of the few bands that I've heard in the last few years that I'm crazy about.

TSOL (February 1, 2011)

Holy fuck this is good. So good that I emptied my paypal buying up the record and splits they've done. Puts Dear Landlord to shame, and Dream Homes was a pretty great record.

miles (January 20, 2011)

love this album, but that last song's riff reminds me of tiffany or some other 80s pop song and its bothering the shit out of me

gunsontheroof (January 20, 2011)

i have no complaints with this album. it's been on heavy rotation all week.

encorp (January 20, 2011)

Not even a month into 011 and you can already see this thing in the top 10.

It's gonna be a big year boys.

milkplus (January 18, 2011)

just want to echo what others have said - this record is tremendous.

i couldn't turn the demo off and this has managed to surpass even that.

gutless (January 17, 2011)

best band ive listened to all year

Ruinandwreck (January 16, 2011)

Raddest dudes, raddest band. Excellent album without any bad/filler songs on it. I haven't been this stoked on a record in a long time.

Dsquared (January 15, 2011)

A breath of fresh air for punk rock. Its excellence goes beyond its immediate place in time (shut up with "best of 2011" fuck)

R3vengeTherapy (January 15, 2011)

Jesus, I need to hear this record. Because not a single person in the comments has even so much as said "It's okay." I'm sure that's coming, but frankly, I'm floored.

samthecritic (January 15, 2011)

Pretty good, I liked it a lot on first listen.

brokenrecord (January 14, 2011)

wow this release is amazing! every song is a gem
best release of 2011!

bwoop (January 14, 2011)

sooo good

dingbat (January 14, 2011)

This is the best thing I've heard in a while. Pretty excited about it.

culturerevolution (January 14, 2011)

This album is amazing, I just wish it were longer.
Besides that, it's about as close to perfect as a record can be.

thatbenfella (January 14, 2011)

way too good!

6131 (January 14, 2011)

Great review!! You can still preorder the LP at www.hellfishfamily.com/stores/sixonethreeone

mylesey_cyrus (January 14, 2011)

best dudes period. this album is fantastic!

IwishIwasdeaf (January 14, 2011)

Joyce Manor is on some next level shit right now. Amazing album. Can't wait for the LP to show up in the mail.

conblake (January 14, 2011)

too many bands are basically emo, but this is an example of how to take that feeling and create something compelling out of it. I'll pick it up

teaessare (January 14, 2011)

I just started listening maybe 10 minutes ago, and I might agree that I like this more than anything from 2010.

swiftjustice (January 14, 2011)

Not my favorite type of music normally, but I'm a big fan of this.

bryne (January 14, 2011)

I like this album more than almost anything from 2010, so this may easily finish as my favorite album of 2011. I don't really understand all the mentions of California punk and Jawbreaker...I hear more posthardcore, indie, and emo than I do pop-punk, and that's a good thing. Joyce Manor does way more for me than Jawbreaker and most SoCal punk.

Maybe the best thing about this record is that neither one of us are wrong in our assessments.

Lysdexia (January 14, 2011)

I feel it cheapens it if I say, "Wow, this is my favorite full-length debut since End Measured Mile", but it really is. It takes me 20 minutes to walk to each class. I end up listening to this almost every time I step out the door. Great record. Can't get enough.

lightningboltface (January 14, 2011)

great album, but i hear more kid dynamite than jawbreaker. but then again, i'm not too familiar with jawbreaker aside from their "hits".

throw_aways (January 14, 2011)

hobbzoid (January 14, 2011)

Fucked Up's art department did this LP cover. They went a lil soft.

Blackjaw_ (January 14, 2011)

Great batch of tunes.

alpod4 (January 14, 2011)

totally fair. great review. great album.