Torrance, CA · punk · emo · power pop

Joyce Manor

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Southern California's most efficient punk band — two-minute songs, enormous hooks, and sets that are over before you've settled in.

Joyce Manor came together in Torrance, California, after guitarists Barry Johnson and Chase Knobbe met in late 2008 and decided, on a trip to Disneyland, to start a band; the name came from an apartment building Johnson used to pass on walks. Bassist Matt Ebert joined the following year, and the group played early house shows, opening its first gig for Andrew Jackson Jihad.

The band signed to 6131 Records and released its self-titled debut in January 2011, an album built around the fast, plainspoken "Constant Headache" that Punknews named its album of the year. Its 2012 follow-up, Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired, ran barely thirteen minutes, leaned harder into folk-punk and included a cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star."

A deal with Epitaph Records brought Never Hungover Again in 2014, followed by Cody and Million Dollars to Kill Me, both of which pushed into different song structures and tempos. A compilation, Songs from Northern Torrance, appeared in 2020, and the band has used a different drummer for each album cycle since 2015.

40 oz. to Fresno followed in 2022, part of a catalogue that draws on pop punk, emo and power pop, with songs that rarely stretch past two or three minutes and albums that often run under half an hour. Johnson's lyrics stick to small domestic details, awkwardness and Southern California specifics, delivered plainly over fast, melodic guitar parts.

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