Philadelphia’s punk heroes The Menzingers have very little left to prove. After more than a decade and a half of making their city proud through celebrated LPs and iconic live shows, the four-piece refuses to stay complacent. Any band with a following like this could easily fall victim to the road and repeat themselves on studio recordings in order to keep their thriving touring life alive. Thankfully, The Menzingers are not one of those bands, and they are proud of it. After years of establishing themselves as one of the more prominent fixtures in modern punk, the band still finds excitement in exploring new creative avenues and piecing together daring albums that fuel their legendary live performances. Such is the case for Some of It Was True, the band’s latest outing. For 13 songs, the band dances between thrashing melodies and slow-burning love songs that all seem to explore the idea of living with regret.
Some of It Was True has The Menzingers cutting the brakes on their well-oiled punk machine for a non-stop exploration into their diverse artistry. The album does not find consistency on a surface level, rather the album is tied together by a restlessness that was captured by the producer Brad Cook, who helped shape the punk’s latest. From the moment you press play, you are thrown into a flurry of blistering tempos that deescalate and revive themselves throughout the album’s 45-minute runtime. The crashing waves of these varying arrangements may make a narrative hard to follow but it is what’s under the surface of these songs that keeps the LP from sounding too hectic and inconsistent.
The album has The Menzingers putting their youthful angst to mature, stadium-sized arrangements. This juxtaposition is the driving sonic force behind Some of It Was True. The LP kicks off with the relatable and infectious “Hope is a Dangerous Little Thing”, a pure example of the band’s punk roots. Their maturity begins to shine on songs like “Nobody Stays”, a track filled with crunchy textures thanks to a tightly-wound arrangement, creating a launching pad for the song’s free-falling harmonies. Underneath these jangly-rock arrangements are poetic lyrics that detail a longing so palpable they cut through the album’s varying tones. A moment like “High Low” showcases the band’s heartfelt lyricism over one of the best instrumentals on the whole album.
There are hints of experimentation on Some of It Was True as well. Moments like the single “Come on Heartache” have the band adding a bit of twang to their signature sound while “I Didn’t Miss You (Until You Were Gone)” features a bridge for the ages. It is small moments like these that keep the album exciting. While there are some dips in the tracklist where The Menzingers feel too comfortable in their old ways, this LP is far from a total miss for the legendary punk rock band. Some of It Was True feels like a noteworthy stepping stone to the next era of The Menzingers with moments of moving songwriting and masterful musicianship that build on the ironclad legacy of one of Philadelphia’s greatest artistic offerings.
