JOYCE MANOR SHARE TITLE TRACK FROM NEW ALBUM “I USED TO GO TO THIS BAR”

I USED TO GO TO THIS BAR OUT THIS FRIDAY VIA EPITAPH

Joyce Manor by Dan Monick

“Timeless yet intensely relatable.” – Los Angeles Times

“The doors are open for Joyce Manor to continue its ascent.” – Billboard

“[I Used To Go To This Bar] finds the California pop-punk rockers at the top of their game.” – Rolling Stone

“Playfully irreverent and chipper, continuing the feel-good riffs that have steadily defined their nearly 20-year-long run” – Pitchfork

“Hits with sharpshooter precision… Joyce Manor make compact, kinetic punk songs that refuse to waste even a moment.” – Paste Magazine

“The record sees [Joyce Manor] continue to uncover depths within their concise, hook-filled songwriting” – Alternative Press

“Joyce Manor’s singles from their upcoming seventh album have them embracing cowpunk and RHCP-y California rock, while still sounding like no other band in the world.” – Brooklyn Vegan

Joyce Manor share “I Used To Go To This Bar”, the infectious title track from their anticipated new album, ahead of its release this Friday via Epitaph. Additionally, the band is expanding their previously announced North America tour in support of the album, adding a string of June dates with Hot Mulligan. All dates below.

Of the song Barry Johnson says “The lyrics are a nostalgic look at a really unremarkable bar you used to go to when you were broke – the simplicity of your life when you had nothing going on, nothing to lose, and nothing fucking happening. I’m really proud of the lyrics, because they tell a really ordinary story, but with details that are heartbreaking.”

I Used To Go To This Bar, which was named one of the Most Anticipated Albums of 2026 by Vulture, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, and more, was produced by SoCal punk legend Brett Gurewitz (Bad Religion, Epitaph Records CEO), and finds the epochal band operating at the top of their game.

The Torrance, CA trio of Barry Johnson, Chase Knobbe, and Matt Ebert continue to find rich new veins to tap in their short-and-sweet songcraft without losing an ounce of bite that gained them such repute in the first place. I Used To Go To This Bar further situates Joyce Manor in the lineage of their influences and inspirations. Think AFI’s rapid-fire burn, Weezer’s indelible power-pop acumen, and the dusky emotionalism of The Smiths while further establishing them as leading lights in the current rock landscape.

I Used To Go To This Bar album artwork

Track List:
1. I Know Where Mark Chen Lives
2. Falling Into It
3. All My Friends Are So Depressed
4. Well, Whatever It Was
5. I Used To Go To This Bar
6. After All You Put Me Through
7. The Opossum
8. Well, Don’t It Seem Like You’ve Been Here Before?
9. Grey Guitar

More About I Used To Go To This Bar:
Work on the record began in early 2023, with a creative dream team assembled after Johnson brought an early mix of first single “All My Friends Are So Depressed” to Bad Religion legend and Epitaph owner Brett Gurewitz. “I’ve been extremely proud of Joyce Manor since we signed them, and Barry and I have always had an excellent working relationship together,” Gurewitz says while discussing how he eventually took on the role of I Used To Go To This Bar’s producer. “I loved the song, but I could hear it done in a totally different way. He said, ‘Well, would you ever consider producing a single for us?’ And I was like, ‘Dude, I would love to.’”

“Working with Brett was amazing,” Johnson beams. “When it comes to our musical DNA, he’s one of the architects of everything we grew up on. Having him guide our record helped us make something that we could put next to those classic records that shaped us,” Johnson adds. “I really feel like we were behind the wheel, and I’m really proud of it.” “He likes to keep the excitement up,” Knobbe adds, “and he’s amazing at coaching performances and knowing what not to sweat. Brett legitimized all our early influences in a way that gave us a lot of confidence to execute what we were going for.” “When you’re a musician in the studio, you want to be creative,” Gurewitz explains while discussing his immediacy-first production approach that resulted in the nonstop fireballs on I Used To Go To This Bar. “You don’t want to wait around and feel frustration because people are taking a long time to plug something in. I always try to work fast and keep things creative and fun.”

I Used To Go To This Bar feels like a true culmination of everything Joyce Manor’s achieved thus far, further cementing their current legacy as California pop-punk royalty as well as a truly generational punk band at large. “Joyce Manor are a quintessential South Bay punk band,” Gurewitz says while talking about the band’s importance to the landscape as large. “But unlike their peers they’re writing timeless songs for the American Songbook. If Barry was a novelist, he’d be Ernest Hemingway. To me, they’re among the most important bands of the last two decades.” And the fresh burst of inspiration that fuels I Used To Go To This Bar proves that Joyce Manor are far from content to rest on such laurels, moving forward with their sound and style in a way that reminds you of how they got to this point in the first place.

I Used To Go To This Bar retains the band’s penchant for punchy hooks while sounding fuller, more in-your-face, and all-around bigger than ever, with an all-star crew of collaborators along for this wild ride. Along with mixing pro Tony Hoffer (M83, Beck), behind-the-boards legend Tom Lord-Alge lent his Enema of the State engineer magic to several I Used To Go To This Bar cuts, including the first single “All My Friends Are So Depressed.” The album also features a rotating cast of drummers, including touring drummer Jared Shavelson, Social Distortion’s David Hildago, Jr., and Joey Waronker – the latter of whom is currently hitting the skins for Oasis’ reunion tour. “Over the last 16 years, it’s very much felt like the three of us have this chemistry of playing music together,” Ebert explains, “and we have this pattern of drummers not staying around for too long. It made sense to forge forward as the three of us and figure out the drummer situation as we go.”