Joyce Manor originally planned to take a small break from music after wrapping up their tour supporting 2018's Million Dollars to Kill Me, which was followed by a rarities compilation and some select shows to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album, but singer/guitarist Barry Johnson couldn't help himself from writing new songs during quarantine, and that resulted in the band's newly-announced sixth album, 40 oz. to Fresno, due June 10 via Epitaph (pre-order on opaque pink vinyl).
The album title comes from an auto-corrected text that was meant to be about the first Sublime album, and the album features 9 songs in 17 minutes that were made with producer Rob Schnapf, who also helmed Joyce Manor's 2016 album Cody, and Motion City Soundtrack's Tony Thaxton on drums. It opens with the cover of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "Souvenir" that Joyce Manor contributed to a recent vinyl-only split with Jawbreaker's Blake Schwarzenbach, and "Secret Sisters" was a B-side from 2014's Never Hungover Again, while the song "NBTSA" is, according to Barry, "actually a reworked version of ‘Secret Sisters’ that barely even resembles the original song."
"This album makes me think of our early tours, drinking a 40 in the van on a night drive blasting Guided By Voices and smoking cigarettes the whole way to Fresno," Barry says, and the under-two-minute lead single "Gotta Let It Go" does indeed sound like the lean, no-frills version of Joyce Manor that was introduced the world over a decade ago. It feels like they hit the reset button after taking some time off and revisiting their early material, but it also feels as fresh and forward-thinking as they ever were. Listen and watch the Mason Mercer-directed video below.
As mentioned, Joyce Manor are also gearing up to open The Story So Far's upcoming tour, alongside Mom Jeans and Microwave. That tour begins next week and hits NYC on April 18 at Terminal 5. All dates are listed below.
Get Joyce Manor's new album on opaque pink vinyl here.
Joyce Manor
Tracklist Souvenir NBTSA Reason To Believe You’re Not Famous Anymore Don’t Try Gotta Let It Go Dance With Me Did You Ever Know Secret Sisters
The Story So Far / Joyce Manor / Mom Jeans / Microwave -- 2022 Tour Dates 4/11 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Union 4/13 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom 4/15 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theater 4/16 – Chicago, IL – Radius 4/18 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE 4/19 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater 4/20 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head 4/22 – NYC – Terminal 5 4/23 – Boston, MA – Roadrunner 4/24 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall 4/26 – Richmond, VA – The National 4/27 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern 4/29 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock 4/30 – Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom 5/03 – Dallas, TX – The Factory In Deep Ellum 5/04 – San Antonio, TX – Vibes Event Center 5/06 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater 5/07 – Los Angeles, CA – Shrine 5/08 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield 5/10 – Portland, OR – McMenamins Crystal Ballroom 5/11- Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
