Never Hungover Again (Album Review)

Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again (2014)

A punchy emo-punk classic that still hits hard a decade later.

About the Artist

Joyce Manor is a pop punk band from Torrance, California, formed in 2008. The band has cycled through a handful of drummers but has consistently included Barry Johnson (lead vocals), Chase Knobbe (guitar), and Matt Ebert (bass). They broke out of the California indie scene in the early 2010s, gaining heavy traction through Tumblr and other social media. You can hear the 2000s post-emo influence all over their music—especially in how their lyrics unpack suburban malaise, heartbreak, and self-loathing with a sharp self-awareness.

About the Album

Never Hungover Again is their third studio album and easily their defining record. Just over 19 minutes long with ten tracks, it’s a staple project for the band—likely the first that comes to mind when you think “Joyce Manor.” It features some of their most iconic songs and delivers gritty, high-speed bursts of pop punk about self-indulgence, fleeting relationships, and emotional exhaustion. It also helped cement the mid-2010s emo revival scene, alongside bands like Title Fight and Mom Jeans.

My Thoughts

One genre I always come back to is post-emo/pop punk. For at least a decade, I’ve been drawn to the whiny vocals and shrieky guitars these bands use to complain about problems that seem small on paper but feel massive when you’re living through them. Bands like Joyce Manor and Mom Jeans have been with me through my entire adolescence. And while I like to think I’ll grow out of this phase as I get older, I probably won’t. Besides, it’s more than a phase, Mom.

Seriously though, I hold this era of music close, and this album is a big reason why.

What Stuck With Me

t’s short and sweet, but it hits like a truck. From the opening moments of “Christmas Card,” you’re thrown right into it—fast chords, shaky confidence, and raw emotion. It’s a super fun album to throw on and just sing your heart out for 20 minutes; On the other side of that this is also an album that you can use to get emotional for a brief moment while you try to forget about the issues in your life. There is no limit to how you can interpret these songs, which is something Joyce Manor is skilled at.

My only real complaint is how short it all is. It’s not that short albums are bad—it’s that these songs are too good to end so quickly. The briefness also makes it harder for the deeper cuts to leave a lasting impression, even if they’re solid.

Falling In Love Again is an intense song about the feeling of falling in love, but not the good feelings associated with love. It remarks on the anxieties and pressures and reservations that come with falling in love. Comparing the feeling to a drug that you will come down from and inevitably use again. The song is brief but has a beautiful clash of guitars and vocals that make the song one of the most beautiful on the album.

Victoria is a song about feeling the anxieties that come with meeting a new person. You feel closed off and reserved and you want to overthink every decision you make because you want to be sure they like you. Doing something like that until you finally get the courage to open up only to be disappointed and back to being your reserved self.

Catalina Fight Song I’ve always interpreted this song as an intense realization. Johnson is confronting his partner for choosing to do what shes always done because thats all she knows how to do. She wont change and he knows it so he has to come to terms with either putting up with that or leaving because no matter how many options he tries to give her he knows the situation wont change.

I also really liked End of the Summer, Heart Tattoo, and Heated Swimming Pool. These aren’t filler—they just get overshadowed a bit because of how fast the album moves.

Final Thoughts

This album is fun, it’s punchy, and it does exactly what it sets out to do: give you ten songs to think about all the problems in your life and yell. I only wish it was longer. For such a short tracklist, the songs fly by too quickly—it doesn’t give you enough time to really fall in love with any one of them.

But as an album? It rips.

Final Score: 7/10

A classic pop punk album that helped revive a genre and define a generation of prepubescent emo kids. I recommend this short and sweet record to anyone who wants to be mad at the world and scream their heart out for 20 minutes.

Closing Remarks

There is no recent news regarding Joyce Manor or their plans for the future. Following a tour across North America celebrating the ten year anniversary of Never Hungover Again the band has been stagnant. I look forward to seeing what they do next though.

Is Joyce Manor a staple in pop-punk and the post emo revival? Let me know your thoughts below or hit me up on IG @deepcutdigest.