Philadelphia punks The Menzingers have announced a release date for their next studio album, Some Of It Was True.
The record, their seventh, will be released digitally via Epitaph Records on 13 October, with physical versions to follow on 26 January.
The band had already released a taster for the album with the excellent single There’s No Place In This World For Me last month.
Now they’ve dropped lead single Hope is a Dangerous Little Thing and ended the waiting for their legions of devoted fans by announcing the album release date too.
The Clash-referencing title of the album is no surprise – they covered Death Or Glory on their most recent UK dates – and I’m hoping for a return visit based around the physical release date.
Vocalist and guitarist Greg Barnett said: “Written over the last two and a half years in hotels, backstages, basements, and rehearsal rooms and recorded during a life-changing retreat down south, Some Of It Was True is the most realized version of what we set out to do when we started this band 17 years ago – have fun and be ourselves.”
Following the release of the band’s last studio album, 2019’s Hello Exile (reviewed here), The Menzingers presented an acoustic re-working of the record, From Exile (reviewed here), in 2020.
Barnett released his debut solo album, Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave, to rave reviews (read ours here) in 2022, and this was around the time Some Of It Was True started to come together.
The foursome took off to El Paso, Texas, to record at the legendary Sonic Ranch, with producer Brad Cook helping accomplish the daunting task of capturing The Menzingers’ live energy within the confines of a studio.
Cook says: “The Menzingers are as real as it gets. I had an absolute blast working with these guys and was moved to tears many times. They are truly dedicated to artistic growth, and to each other, in ways I found both refreshing and beautiful. I am now a lifer.”
Co-vocalist and guitarist Tom May said: “Brad massively changed the way we were approaching the record. We’d talk about music and develop a vocabulary about how to work together, and that made us embrace chasing the feeling, instead of worrying about locking in things immediately.”
Lyrically, Some Of It Was True is a showcase for how the band’s songwriting has expanded beyond their personal experiences, drawing from what’s happening around them.
Acknowledging that they’re in a very different place from when they formed in 2008, this album embraces change. “This record just feels different for us,” says Barnett. “It’s a really important one in our catalog, and a pivotal moment in our history.
“We have the liberty of our fans growing with us now, and after writing these lyrical songs about where we are in life, we decided to take other people’s stories and make something bigger out of it.”
The Menzingers are Greg Barnett (vocals, guitar), Tom May (vocals, guitar), Eric Keen (bass), and Joe Godino (drums). You can pre-order Some Of It Was True HERE.
