A welcome visit from old friends

By Manuel Gemperli

Heartland punk is the best way to describe what the Menzingers do. This has nothing to do with them being from Scranton. I’m not even sure where the so-called heartland starts or ends. What I love about what we collectively decided to call heartland in musical terms is the melange of longing and nostalgia, of euphoria and melancholia. The Menzingers are brilliant at it. They’re not the only ones to combine springsteenesque earnestness and anthemicmess (I do realize that some of these words are not words, but shouldn’t they be?) with punk rock energy, but they’re better at it than 99% of others who try. And sometimes when you’re so consistently great at something it can be a detriment. When you’re this deep into a career and you never slacked off, people might not appreciate anymore how difficult it is to keep up this level. When I first hit play on “Everything I Ever Saw” I expected and hoped for exactly the record that I ended up getting. It felt great to me, but that’s what may lead a publication to give this record a - say - 4.7 score. And I get that. Partially. I need my fix of newness, of unexpected excitement, too. And there’s a reason why I stopped caring about new records of so many bands. When you keep doing your thing, you better fucking do it exceptionally. The Menzingers are a band who live by their emotional heft as well as their formula (what a terrible word) which they perfected though. And they never lost it. Growing older alongside them we have always been able to relate to the ever-changing circumstances but also to the never-changing yearning that runs through their music. It’s that emotionality along with the craftsmanship (because craftsmanship is a big part of being exceptional songwriters) that makes this band stand out. Admittedly, not every lyric on this new album is outstanding. For instance, the first chorus line on opener “Chance Encounters” might be a bit too on the nose, but by that time they had already won me over, giving me that comforting feeling of old friends visiting, something that always pairs well with reminiscing. I don’t know where “Everything I Ever Saw” will rank in their discography once all is said and done, but I know it would stand taller alongside the work of lesser bands. But I’m not gonna fault them for not fucking up enough. Musically. The real life fucking up is paramount, obviously. The Menzingers are like real life in many ways. Life after the party goes on for very long (if you’re lucky) and the highlights may seem less pronounced at some point, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t in fact highlights. I’m impressed but even more so just happy that they can still touch me the way they do by doing  “just” what they’ve been doing so greatly for so long: writing heartfelt, intense, beautiful, energetic, memorable songs.

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