New Jersey · pop-rock

Bleachers

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Jack Antonoff's sax-blasting Jersey heart — every set a Springsteen homage with confetti, played by pop's busiest producer like it's the only band that matters.

Bleachers began in 2013 as a side project for Jack Antonoff, who was still touring as guitarist for fun. at the time; he kept the material secret for about a year before releasing the debut single 'I Wanna Get Better' in February 2014, alongside the band's first tour dates.

Based in New Jersey, the band draws openly on late-1980s and early-1990s American rock and pop, plus the teenage world of John Hughes films, with big drums, saxophone and layered synthesisers behind Antonoff's vocals. The palette gives the songs a widescreen, nostalgic feel even when the lyrics turn personal.

Antonoff remained the only permanent member until 2023, when longtime touring musicians Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Evan Smith, Michael Riddleberger and Zem Audu were made official members of the group. The live band is a full ensemble, with horns, and tends to play the material louder and rougher than the recordings.

Five studio albums have followed: Strange Desire (2014, released on RCA Records), Gone Now (2017), Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night (2021), Bleachers (2024) and Everyone for Ten Minutes (2026). In 2024 the band also released A Stranger Desired, a re-recording of that first album.

Antonoff is also one of the more prominent pop producers of the past decade, having worked extensively with other artists, but Bleachers remains the outlet for his own songwriting, much of it rooted in Jersey imagery and family history. The songs range from confessional to defiantly upbeat.

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pop-rock