The Californian punk band Joyce Manor remains true to the original principles of their home genre on I USED TO GO TO THIS BAR. Nine short songs make for a pleasantly concise album that doesn’t contain an ounce of fat – nothing gets in the way of frontman Barry Johnson’s ultra-catchy vocal melodies. Writing such simple melodies is not that easy, but Joyce Manor have mastered the most difficult discipline of good guitar music: composing unforgettable choruses.
I USED TO GO TO THIS BAR is full of shouted children’s melodies and bubblegum pop, embedded in aggressive US punk – no wonder that Johnson is a self-confessed Beach Boys fan. “Train coming down the track and it almost gave me a heart attack,” says the opener “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives”. That’s exactly what you want to hear when you’re being tossed around in the mosh pit.
At the same time, the train motif creates a deep American atmosphere that fits well with the record’s newly added roots vibe. “All My Friends Are So Depressed” sounds like classic pop-punk, but the track is ultimately much more reminiscent of Wilco. On this album too, Joyce Manor show the softest core of all US punk bands – and let it shine through more and more clearly as they get older.
This review appears in Musikexpress 2/2026.
