JOYCE MANOR I Used to Go to This Bar (Epitaph) — Joyce Manor spent about a decade and a half kicking around the punk scene before their 2022 album, 40 oz. to Fresno, brought a breakthrough. The California-bred band achieved a whole other level of success that included a stint opening for Weezer on a stadium tour. For the important recorded follow-up, they get help straight from the top of their label as Epitaph owner Brett Gurewitz plunks down behind the mixing board to produce the album. Sure enough, I Used to Go to This Bar has the lean slickness of Gurewitz’s band Bad Religion back in their nineteen-nineties heyday. It suits Joyce Manor well. “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives” boasts a jabbing punk energy and shout-along chorus (“Freight train coming down the track/ And it almost gave me a heart attack”) that could launch a thousand mosh pits. In general, the group’s songcraft is strong enough to inspire of bevy of complimentary comparisons: “Falling Into It” sounds like a less grandiose Interpol, “Well, Whatever It Was” suggests Ben Folds Five if it were a guitar band, and “The Opossum” recalls Old 97’s at their runaway-hoedown peak. The album is so tight that it wraps up in under twenty minutes, only one track lasting longer than two and half minutes. No muss, no fuss, no kidding. Belly up to the following cuts: “All My Friends Are So Depressed,” “After All You Put Me Through,” and “Well, Don’t It Seem Like You’ve Been Here Before?”

LAPÊCHE Autotelic (Tiny Engines) — It seems appropriate to go full mediocre school report and begin by noting that Merriam-Webster defines autotelic as “having a purpose in and not apart from itself.” Appropriately, the third full-length from LAPêCHE comes across as a work that is fully assured in its self-evidence. Once essentially a solo act for Krista Holly Diemâs, LAPêCHE has developed into a full band, and there’s definitely a collaborative fullness to their music now. Although there are some vestiges of post-punk beginnings, the material on Autotelic impresses in how freely it roves across left of the dial–friendly forms. Maybe it’s the luxuriant ballad “The Alien Dove” or the thumping “When Are You From.” Either way, the track is sturdily built with an impressive production polish. That they sound like prime Throwing Muses on “I Heart NY” is a good marker of just how strong and certain LAPêCHE are here. Heck, “Monsoon” even sounds like something the Go-Go’s might have come up with had they started up a decade later. The album is bright, bold, and just plain terrific. Embrace purpose with “Double Knotted,” “Parallel Park,” “First Time Caller,” and “Phantom of Cinder.”