Joyce Manor – Never Hungover Again

For their third album, the quartet from Torrance, California have progressed without the sacrifice of the charm that made them so endearing in the first place. 10 quick blasts of punchy, hooky melodic punk that induces loud sing-a-longs and raucous pogoing, but hopefully no reckless stage diving (the band as of late discourages that!). They clearly stick to their quality over quantity approach with the longest song clocking in at just under 2 and a half minutes while the album as a whole totals a slim, yet exhilarating 19 minutes. The band added more prominent guitar riffs on several of the songs and ditched the lo-fi production values of their previous albums for a cleaner, yet not overly polished tone. “Never Hungover Again” avoids redundancy by including a couple of mid-tempo numbers and even a slower song in the bass-heavy “Schley”. It peaks in the middle with the 1-2 punch on the pulsating romp of “Heart Tattoo” and the instant catchiness of “The Jerk”. Appropriately placed at the end is the band’s take on jangle-y guitar pop, “Heated Swimming Pool” to mark the end of an album so brief, but so satisfying that little effort will be required effort to crank it repeatedly.