Carbondale, IL · pop-punk

The Copyrights

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Carbondale's Ramones-core standard-bearers — buzzsaw guitars, whoa-ohs, and airtight two-minute hits, pop-punk done exactly right, whoa-ohs guaranteed.

The Copyrights formed in Carbondale, Illinois, in 2002. The lineup settled around Adam Fletcher on vocals and bass, Brett Hunter and Kevin Rotter on vocals and guitar, and Luke McNeill on drums, and the band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords.

They have spent their career working in the Ramones-descended, Midwestern strain of pop-punk associated with labels such as Red Scare and It's Alive. Their songs are short and fast, with distorted downstroked guitars, group backing vocals and melodies that stay close to the surface.

Their debut album, We Didn't Come Here to Die, appeared in 2003, produced by Mass Giorgini. Records followed steadily after that: Mutiny Pop, Make Sound, Learn the Hard Way, North Sentinel Island, Report in 2014 on Red Scare, and Alone In A Dome in 2021 on Fat Wreck Chords. In 2019 they re-recorded the Groovie Ghoulies' Re-animation Festival album alongside Kepi Ghoulie.

Across this run the band has kept its formula largely unchanged, favouring consistency over reinvention, and members have also played in related bands including Dear Landlord, Hospital Job, Starter Jackets and the Heat Tape.

The Copyrights have toured with Kepi Ghoulie, Masked Intruder, The Falcon and Teenage Bottlerocket, and played Belgium's Groezrock in 2012 along with headlining sets at Baltimore's Insubordination Fest and Punk Rock Raduno in Italy.

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pop-punk