Review
Joyce Manor
Self Titled

Who ever said louder isn’t better? Joyce Manor have been breaking down the walls of every town they play up and down the west coast with their rowdy live performances for awhile now. Their self-titled debut album will have you hopping and singing at the top of your lungs with their boisterous pop-punk anthems in your own home.

Joyce Manor jump right into it with their shortest track on the record, “Orange Julius.” It features only verses and an outro of “whoas.” They keep it interesting by alternating between palm muting and hammer-downs. Like its predecessor, the second track, “Call Out (Laundry),” begins with a mass of instruments before breaking into a contrasting melodic verse. As the song progresses, the vocals get more and more emotional as it reaches the outro where, “I call out,” is repeated over and over until it fades. Those emotional vocals carry over to “Beach Community,” where Joyce Manor’s front-man gives a performance that sounds like he had a few drinks and decided to sing out everything on his mind.

With their fourth and fifth tracks, “Derailed” and “Famous Friend,” you really get a taste of their So-Cal influence. Much like most of the songs on this LP, the only problem with these two is that they are too short. “Derailed” ends abruptly, leaving you to think it’s unfinished and wanting more. Although “Famous Friend” feels complete, it’s such a good song that you’ll wish it were longer.

Next, we get to the first of two songs lent over from Joyce Manor’s demo, which they released early last year. “Leather Jacket” is a crowd-pleasing anthem. It opens up with more booming instruments and then leads into a bass-riff that treads across the fret board. Not much has changed since the demo version. Not even the sound quality has improved much. The same could be said about the other re-recorded demo song, “Constant Nothing.” However, the raw sound is something that works well for Joyce Manor. They manage to capture the intensity equivalent to their shows through studio recordings.

As you get to the album’s closer, “Constant Headache,” one might get the impression they saved the best for last. The longest track on the album is a mid-tempo, emo-influenced, number loaded with twangy guitars, heart-rending vocals and tender melodies.

Joyce Manor’s debut full length may not encompass the best sound quality, but the material is solid enough to easily look past that. These 10 tracks are short, to the point, and worthy of blasting from anyone’s speakers.