The Menzingers - Some Of It Was True (Album Review)
Tuesday, 17 October 2023
Written by Jack Press
Photo: Danielle Dubois
On the surface, heartland rock is a lot like buses. You wait years for a band to bring it back, and suddenly The Gaslight Anthem have reformed while Bruce Springsteen is on the road racking up stadium show after stadium show. In the background, though, The Menzingers’ wheels never stopped spinning.
‘Some Of It Was True’ picks up where 2019’s ‘Hello Exile’ left off, leaving even more of their punk past behind in favour of some rootsy flavours. So much so that, seven albums in, The Menzingers struggle to shake off the influences that have shaped their shift towards Americana.
Opener Hope Is A Dangerous Little Thing is aptly named, promising a new high water-mark that doesn’t materialise. Nobody Stays, Love At The End, and High Low are routine, slow-burning numbers that’ll make for sensational sing-alongs, but ‘Some Of It Was True’ is at its best when it strays from the well-trodden path.
There’s No Place In This World For Me’s fuzzed-up blues and toe-tapping percussion is made for club-room clap-alongs, Try’s nostalgic vibes sound like pop-punk, Americana, and new wave walked into a bar, started a fight, and walked out as mates, and Alone In Dublin’s feedback-friendly rides an Oasis riffs into the wide blue yonder.
Simply put, ‘Some Of It Was True’ is the sum of its parts: a rootsy, middle-of-the-road soundtrack to a quarter-life crisis. It won’t solve your problems, but it’ll have you singing through the hurt.
The Menzingers Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri February 02 2024 - LONDON Electric Ballroom
Sat February 03 2024 - LONDON Electric Ballroom
Sun February 04 2024 - BRISTOL Marble Factory
Tue February 06 2024 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute2
Thu February 08 2024 - NEWCASTLE Domain Northumbria University
Fri February 09 2024 - GLASGOW Barrowland Ballroom
Sat February 10 2024 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy
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