After the Party (album)

After the Party
Studio album by The Menzingers
Released February 3, 2017
Recorded April - May 2016
Studio Studio 4
Genre
Length 44:57
Label Epitaph
Producer Will Yip
The Menzingers chronology
Rented World
(2014)Rented World2014		 After the Party
(2017)
Singles from After the Party
  1. "Lookers"
    Released: August 15, 2016
  2. "Bad Catholics"
    Released: October 27, 2016
  3. "Thick as Thieves"
    Released: January 30, 2017
  4. "After the Party"
    Released: March 23, 2017

After the Party is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Menzingers, released on February 3, 2017, through Epitaph Records.

Background and production

The Menzingers went on a co-headlining tour with MewithoutYou in November 2015 in support of their fourth album Rented World (2014). Vocalist/guitarist Greg Barnett was hoping that following the tour's end, the group would "wind down and start work on the next record."[4] The group took a break in November and December, before spending January–March 2016 writing After the Party.[5] From the start of the writing process, Barnett became aware that the album would be "a love letter to our twenties."[6] The band took a break from writing to perform a couple of shows, which Barnett referred to as "that little extra push" near the end of the writing process.[5] The group began recording in April for a period of five and a half weeks,[5] ending in May.[7] The band worked with Will Yip at Studio 4.[8]

Composition

The band intended to create a "fun" album where, according to Barnett, "you throw it on a jukebox in a bar and be fucking punk the whole night."[5] At the same time, they wanted to retain the "integrity" with the storytelling aspect of their songs.[5] Vocalist/guitarist Tom May described the album as "us saying, ‘We don’t have to grow up or get boring—we can keep on having a good time doing what we love.’"[9] Dan Ozzi of Noisey wrote that "Lookers" features Barnett "looking at an old photo of himself with someone, and longing for the youth captured within."[10]

Collin Robinson of Stereogum wrote that "Bad Catholics" is about "balancing the messiness of being human with the virtuousness impressed upon us by societal, religious, and personal beliefs."[11] The track was originally planned for release on a split, until "all of a sudden, everybody just started falling in love" with it, according to Barnett.[5] Barnett referred to the title-track as the "central emotional epiphany" of the record, "written in images."[12] Barnett wanted to "use imagery as unexciting as the sludge in the bottom of a coffee cup to tell a bigger story."[12]

Release

"Lookers" was made available for streaming on August 11, 2016,[10] before being released as a single four days later.[13] In August and September, the band went on a tour of the U.S. with Bayside and Sorority Noise.[10] The band went on a tour of Europe with The Bouncing Souls,[5] before going on a brief headlining tour of the UK in October.[14] On October 27, After the Party was announced for release, and the album's artwork and track listing was revealed.[9] On the same day, "Bad Catholics" was released as a single.[15] On November 15, a music video was released for "Bad Catholics", directed by Kevin Haus. The video is centred around a church pinic, which gets turned into a food fight by a few kids.[16] On December 12, a music video was released for "Lookers", directed by Sean Stoute. It is predominantly a live-performance video, along with footage of the group in their touring van.[17]

On January 9, 2017, "After the Party" was made available for streaming.[12] "Thick as Thieves" was released as a single on January 30.[18] After the Party was released on February 3, through Epitaph Records.[16] Shortly afterwards, the band went on a brief tour of Australia.[8] The band is scheduled to embark on a headlining tour of the UK with support from The Flatliners in April 2017.[19]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[20]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[21]
Blurt[22]
Clash8/10[23]
Drowned in Sound9/10[24]
Exclaim!9/10[1]
Kerrang![25]
The New York TimesFavorable[26]
PopMatters8/10[3]
Punknews[27]
Sputnikmusic[28]

After the Party received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 80 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[20]

Accolades

Publication Rank List
Newsday 16 20 Best Albums of 2017 So Far[29]
Stereogum 26 50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far[30]

Track listing

All tracks were written by The Menzingers.[31]

No.TitleLength
1."Tellin' Lies"4:00
2."Thick as Thieves"3:15
3."Lookers"3:37
4."Midwestern States"3:27
5."Charlie's Army"2:32
6."House on Fire"3:38
7."Black Mass"2:53
8."Boy Blue"3:20
9."Bad Catholics"2:52
10."Your Wild Years"3:55
11."The Bars"4:11
12."After the Party"3:50
13."Livin' Ain't Easy"3:26
Total length:44:57

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 61
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[33] 175
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[34] 66
Scottish Albums (OCC)[35] 65
US Billboard 200[36] 67
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[37] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[38] 8

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label
United States February 3, 2017
Epitaph

References

  1. 1 2 Feibel, Adam (February 1, 2017). "The Menzingers - After The Party". Exclaim!. 1059434 Ontario Inc. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  2. ↑ https://themenzingers.bandcamp.com/album/after-the-party
  3. 1 2 Carr, Paul (February 2, 2017). "The Menzingers: After the Party". PopMatters. PopMatters Media, Inc. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  4. ↑ "The Menzingers return to The Lock Up stage: "It just feels like a punk show"". DIY. Sonic Media Group. August 28, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 McGarth, Ryan (August 17, 2016). "An Interview With The Menzingers: The Party’s Here". The Aquarian Weekly. Diane Casazza, Chris Farinas. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  6. ↑ Hyden, Steven (January 30, 2017). "‘After The Party’ By Philadelphia Punks The Menzingers Is One Of Early 2017’s Best Albums". Uproxx. Woven Digital. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  7. ↑ Gentile, John (May 12, 2016). "The Menzingers finish recording new LP". Punknews.org. Aubin Paul. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  8. 1 2 Hohnen, Mike (October 28, 2016). "The Menzingers Announce 2017 Australian Tour & New Album 'After The Party'". MusicFeeds. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Emily (October 27, 2016). "The Menzingers Announce New Album, Stream New Song". Kerrang!. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 Ozzi, Dan (August 11, 2016). "Hear the Menzingers Get Nostalgic on a New Song, "Lookers"". Noisey. Vice. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Collin (October 27, 2016). "The Menzingers – "Bad Catholics"". Stereogum. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 Breihan, Tom (January 9, 2017). "The Menzingers – "After The Party"". Stereogum. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Lookers - The Menzingers | Release Info". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  14. ↑ "The Menzingers are back with 'Lookers' and new UK dates!". DIY. Sonic Media Group. August 15, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Bad Catholics - The Menzingers | Release Info". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  16. 1 2 Rettig, James (November 15, 2016). "The Menzingers – "Bad Catholics" Video". Stereogum. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  17. ↑ Breihan, Tom (December 12, 2016). "The Menzingers – "Lookers" Video". Stereogum. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Thick as Thieves - The Menzingers | Release Info". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  19. ↑ Emily (November 21, 2016). "The Menzingers Announce 2017 UK Headline Tour". Kerrang!. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  20. 1 2 "Reviews for After the Party by The Menzingers". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  21. ↑ Monger, Timothy. "After the Party - The Menzingers | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  22. ↑ Clegg, Jeff. "THE MENZINGERS – After the Party". Blurt. Blurt, LLC. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  23. ↑ Beech, Dave (February 2, 2017). "The Menzingers - After The Party | Reviews". Clash. Clash Music. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  24. ↑ Otsa, Jamie (February 2, 2017). "Album Review: The Menzingers - After the Party / Releases / Releases". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  25. ↑ Law, Sam (January 28, 2017). "Philadelphia garage-punks don't miss a (heart) beat on surging, emo-tastic fifth outing". Kerrang!. No. 1655. Bauer Media Group. p. 51. ISSN 0262-6624.
  26. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (February 1, 2017). "The Menzingers’ Ragged Punk Peeks in the Rearview Mirror". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  27. ↑ "The Menzingers: After the Party". Punknews.
  28. ↑ http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/72837/The-Menzingers-After-the-Party/
  29. ↑ Glenn Gamboa (June 28, 2017). "20 Best Albums of 2017 So Far". Newsday. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  30. ↑ Stereogum Staff (June 6, 2017). "50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far". Stereogum. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  31. ↑ https://themenzingers.bandcamp.com/album/after-the-party
  32. ↑ "ARIA CHART WATCH #407". auspOp. February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Menzingers – After the Party" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Menzingers – After the Party" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  36. ↑ "The Menzingers – Chart history" Billboard 200 for The Menzingers. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  37. ↑ "The Menzingers – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for The Menzingers. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  38. ↑ "The Menzingers – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for The Menzingers. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
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