IN REVIEW: The Menzingers - "After the Party"

If there's a Gaslight Anthem-shaped hole in your heart after that band announced an indefinite hiatus a couple years back, perhaps The Menzingers' fifth album can ease your suffering a bit. That's not to say that they're a clone of the Jersey rockers, but they do follow a similar motif; their punky, ragged racket is lyrically boosted with hard luck tales of twenty-somethings becoming thirty-somethings in the urban wastelands of America. These nostalgic, heart-on-sleeve litanies are well tread ground, to be sure, but there's something wholly endearing about the way The Menzingers weave the experience together on After the Party.

There are glimpses of greatness throughout their discography, and previous LP Rented World was of a high enough quality that an album as consistently energetic and engaging as After the Party doesn't come off as a complete surprise. Still, it is heartening to hear a band with so much potential live up to it in such convincing fashion. Perhaps it's the maturity that comes with age, perhaps it's the decade the band has spent to date honing their craft; whatever the case, The Menzingers have delivered their most coherent, consistent and relatable album yet.

February 3, 2017 • Epitaph
Highlights Thick as Thieves • Lookers • After the Party