Above image via Spotify: Joyce Manor
Giovanni Mori | March 18th, 2026
If you’re a reader of For The Music Man!, you may know by now that I am no stranger to punk music, and that I find it amazing to see many different bands and artists, who have been exploring the genre for nearly five decades (!), send their message to the world. For most, it’s a rebellious way to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves, and for others, it’s simply a new way to express themselves to the world.
One modern band from the 2010s that’s often mentioned in discussions of punk in today’s world is Joyce Manor, who not long ago have released their seventh studio album, I Used To Go To This Bar. This track by track review may be a little late in the game, but it’s an album I often find myself coming back to, or at the very least, humming along to a catchy part from one of its nine tracks, so let’s get into it!
track 1: I know where mark chen lives
YouTube: Epitaph Records and Joyce Manor
“I Know Where Mark Chen Lives,” the album’s third overall single, is a fierce heavy hitter tune to get the album started. From the moment the listener presses play, it doesn’t take very long for them to get hooked with its fun progression of big guitar chords to bob their heads to, and no sooner will have them singing along to its silly but easy to remember chorus, “Train coming down the track, and it almost gave me a heart attack” (0:18 – 0:30). While it remains unclear to more casual Joyce Manor fans as to where the song’s ridiculous title comes from, having little to no bearing on the song whatsoever, it fortunately doesn’t take away from the simple effect of sinking its teeth into the listener’s shoulder as I Used To Go To This Bar’s opening track.
Track 2: falling into it
YouTube: Epitaph Records
“Falling Into It” begins more on the new wave and eighties pop music side as the album’s second track starts with a collective build of simple drumming, light guitar chord arpeggiation, and softer vocal melodies, keeping the energy pretty lowkey through the second chorus. Lyrically, it’s a sappy tune going into the love our narrator feels for someone else, but the song remains brief and doesn’t overstay its welcome with only a runtime of a minute and fifty seconds. By the time we reach the song’s bridge, everything is cranked back up to 11, with more energy to transform the final chorus into the biggest and loudest section of the song before a hard stop into track three.
track 3: all my friends are so depressed
YouTube: Epitaph Records and Joyce Manor
“All My Friends Are So Depressed,” the first official single released from I Used To Go To This Bar, is not your average punk rock tune when compared to the album’s previous tracks, but rather applies a western and country feel that puts a spin on the song’s relatable lyrics. Lines like “Easy come and easy go, dishwasher just overflowed, key lime pie and Frampton live, wish that I would f***ing die” (0:59 – 1:08) against this instrumental captures a more hollow and forlorn feeling better than punky and hard hitting power chords probably ever could, making this track one of my personal favorites from the album. It’s much calmer, collected, and is just an all around beautiful song not many punk fans let alone Joyce Manor fans are used to, but I’m inclined to believe they weren’t too dissatisfied with the results that became track three, “All My Friends Are So Depressed.”
track 4: well, whatever it was
YouTube: Epitaph Records and Joyce Manor
The sarcastic “Well, Whatever It Was” is the next new theme song for this generation about getting by, just look at lyrics like “Had the worst day ever so far, got run over by my dream car…lost my job at Little Caesar’s, drinking whiskey cause my teeth hurt” (0:46 – 1:00). We’re back to the more pop driven side from this punk band, with more catchy melodies and building harmonies in the verses, all the while packing just enough energy to keep you moving through the song’s second chorus. A cool guitar solo is what prematurely closes this track as you’re left feeling like you needed one more chorus section to finish the job, but in typical Joyce Manor fashion, fans and avid listeners understand the band has to keep things more on the short and sweet side. Remember you could always hit replay and listen over and over again just when the soundtrack to your life calls for it, and of course be sure to watch the comical music video along with it!
track 5: i used to go to this bar
YouTube: Epitaph Records
The title track echoes the theme of wondering where time went and remembering different points of your life, and strangely enough, calls back to a time listeners didn’t even experience, yet somehow still captures a nostalgic feeling that makes you wish you were there. Musically, we have a more up tempo punk sound with a twist of indie rock as we’re met with palm mutes, lullaby-esque vocals, and a lightning quick eighth note drum beat. The fifth track is relatively on the longer side of the album, but at only a little over two minutes, still moves too rapidly for listeners, especially during what’s meant to be an impactful chorus section, which is only two lines before moving on, wasting plenty of room for expansion.
track 6: after all you put me through
YouTube: Epitaph Records
Heavy bass, funky guitars, and more soft vocals take over “After All You Put Me Through.” A song about moving on from a past relationship, this dreamy and somber tune shows how much more emotion Joyce Manor can attach to their music when compared to I Used To Go To This Bar’s upbeat A-side. However, the percussive sixth track is still just as fun to listen to with its super tight rhythm section, listeners can tell how hard the instrumentalists worked together as they notice the bass and drums locking in with each other in the verses, as well as being able to hear their guitarist’s pick effortlessly glide up and down the strings to shake up the rhythm in the chorus.
track 7: The opposum
YouTube: Epitaph Records
Western vibes very subtly make their way back to the emo sounding “The Opposum,” another high tempo song with intensity that doesn’t hold back for any die hard or casual listener. It’s difficult trying to decide if it’s more appropriate to dance or sob to this song with lyrics like “When all of the darkness in your heart has been declared, will I still know who you are?” (0:46 – 0:57) over an energetic instrumental with snare drum builds, hard hitting chords, and guitar melodies that trade back and forth with gloomy vocals, that when all put together feels like a song from The Cure on steroids. Listeners once again have little time to decide what mood the song calls for as it ends just as quickly as it begins.
track 8: well, don’t it seem like you’ve been here before?
YouTube: Epitaph Records
“Well, Don’t It Seem Like You’ve Been Here Before?” is a song with some of the most raucous instrumentation we’ve heard on the album. I like to compare the eighth and overall second to last track to a kind of sea shanty by the way the chorus is gravelly shouted out by a large group of voices, and as a result, becomes natural instinct for listeners to join in and sing along, which is just the hype we needed after the more depressing tone coming from our previous two tracks, just as long of course as you don’t look too deeply into the verse’s lyrics about remembering your life and how you could’ve lived differently looking back. And who could forget the harmonica solo as the cherry on top to finish the job?
track 9: grey guitar
YouTube: Epitaph Records
“Grey Guitar” brings back Joyce Manor’s emo sound for the final track of I Used To Go To This Bar. The brooding instrumental full of power chords, along with an aggressive vocal delivery, gives off an anxious feeling as if something somewhere in the band is about to explode. It’s not clear in the lyrics who Danielle actually is, but we do know in the song’s chorus that our narrator is being told “Let’s not confuse the issue, just play your grey guitar, we both know that they can’t fix you, they haven’t got the parts” (0:37 – 0:52), and that he now tragically needs to move on from something even if he isn’t able to. And just like that, the nineteen minute album comes to a close.
I Used To Go To This Bar clearly doesn’t take too much time out of your day for you let off some steam, which like other Joyce Manor records, gives off great replayability, although makes you wonder if any of the nine fireball tunes hit you in your feels the right way in such a short timeframe. If the answer to that question is “No, not yet,” then it should be clear what you need to do next.
Sources
“Joyce Manor – ‘After All You Put Me Through’ (Full Album Stream)” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records, 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnKnicqIhho&list=RDAnKnicqIhho&start_radio=1
“Joyce Manor – ‘All My Friends Are So Depressed’” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records and Joyce Manor, 18 Aug. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDmJDdFl_jI&list=RDNDmJDdFl_jI&start_radio=1
“Joyce Manor – ‘Falling Into It’ (Full Album Stream)” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records, 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg5TOjW0Qmk&list=RDFg5TOjW0Qmk&start_radio=1
“Joyce Manor – ‘Grey Guitar’ (Full Album Stream)” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records, 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHwfOq8nO58&list=RDIHwfOq8nO58&start_radio=1
“Joyce Manor – ‘I Know Where Mark Chen Lives’” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records and Joyce Manor, 6 Jan. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfgQZJQ-zUo&list=RDgfgQZJQ-zUo&start_radio=1
Joyce Manor. I Used To Go To This Bar, Epitaph, 2026. Spotify app.
“Joyce Manor – ‘I Used To Go To This Bar’” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records, 27 Jan. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc-PsAzH21w&list=RDvc-PsAzH21w&start_radio=1
“Joyce Manor – ‘The Opossum’ (Full Album Stream)” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records, 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zt3Che5t-0&list=RD4zt3Che5t-0&start_radio=1
“Joyce Manor – ‘Well, Don’t It Seem Like You’ve Been Here Before?’ (Full Album Stream)” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records, 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZFNVRTN0_A&list=RDPZFNVRTN0_A&start_radio=1
“Joyce Manor – ‘Well, Whatever It Was’” YouTube, uploaded by Epitaph Records and Joyce Manor, 7 Oct. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSPEr7_gYlw&list=RDVSPEr7_gYlw&start_radio=1
