The Menzingers Release Sixth Album
By Cris Rulli
Graphic by Emily Lantzy
The Menzingers have been releasing pop-punk anthems since their debut in 2006 and now, thirteen years later, the band is still doing just that with the release of their latest album Hello Exile. The album features twelve songs that range from making a political statement with “America (You’re Freaking Me Out)” to reminiscing of the good old days with “High School Friend,” and everything in between.
The album begins with one of the above-mentioned songs that the band released as a single prior to the album release, titled “America (You’re Freaking Me Out).” This song makes a pretty clear statement about the current political state of America while also being a catchy song to sing along to. The guitar in the song seem to add a sense of urgency to the song, which in turn adds to the overall message trying to be portrayed through it. “Anna,” the second single the band released from the album, tells the story of missing a significant other and wishing they were there so the good times could be recreated instead of just reminiscing of good memories with them.
“High School Friend” takes on a different feeling through the lyrics, which take the listener on a journey down memory lane. It takes the approach of reminiscing about being a teenager and hanging out with good friends as a contrast to their current adult lives where everyone lives in different cities and are always busy, so making time to hang out like teenagers again is difficult. This song feels as if it’s one of the most relatable ones on the album for most listeners, because everyone remembers good times with their friends and when their lives were easier when they were younger, and it gives the listener a feeling of nostalgia and longing for simpler times. “Last to Know” takes on a darker tone than the previous four tracks with lyrics like “You barely made a sound / We put your mother in the ground / Some words are never found,” and “Promises were made on an alter in blood / Sacrificial children’s voices echo on and on.”
“Strangers Forever” portrays the idea of becoming strangers again with someone who had a major part in your life while they were in it, such as a significant other or a very close friend. Many listeners will be able relate this song to their own personal experiences, because it seems that almost everyone has been in a situation where they had to distance themselves from and become strangers again with someone they knew for various reasons. In an Instagram post about this song being released with a music video back in September, the band’s lead singer Greg Barnett gave fans a bit of a backstory into the lyrical inspiration for this song. Barnett said, “Lyrically, the song is inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel, Anna Karenina. In it, the character, Darya Alexandrovna learns of her husband’s infidelity and declares: ‘Even if we remain in the same house, we are strangers - strangers forever!’ The idea of becoming a stranger to someone you so intimately know stuck with me and became to overarching narrative to this song.”
The title track is the next song on the album and it depicts the story of what it’s like living in a small town, and it stems from Barnett’s childhood experiences. The song takes inspiration from Anton Chekhov’s The Lady with the Dog, which reminded him of the feeling of isolation he felt as a child when the summer came to an end and his friends would all return home to the main city and he would remain in his small hometown. “Portland” and “Strain Your Memory” take another approach to the nostalgia of reminiscing upon where things began while also having a more upbeat sound to them with the drum beat and the guitar riffs.
“I Can’t Stop Drinking” takes the usual narrative of fun and wild times involving alcohol and turns it around completely to tell the opposite end of the story, the raw and truthful reality. The song tells the story of someone who started off drinking alcohol for fun but ended up relying on it as they became older. The lyrics take the listener on a journey of this person and demonstrate just how much of an effect a dependency on alcohol can have on someone. “I wanted to be completely truthful and get away from glorifying anything. Sometimes it’s tough to look at yourself and at others that way but it felt important to make it as real as possible,” Barnett said about the lyrical make up of this song. “Strawberry Mansion” and “London Drugs” have a great musical and lyrical makeup that are both catchy, but also bring across the meaning in the lyrics as well as the feeling of almost a sense of lost control and nostalgia, as is common throughout the entirety of the album.
The album closes with “Farewell Youth,” which is about the loss of childhood innocence and having to grow up too fast. The lyrics talk about how the consumption of alcohol with friends and the death of someone close lead to the need to grow up too fast and not fully live out the years of youth like you should have. This song feels like it could be another very personable one because a lot of people can relate to the need to having to grow up too fast and miss out on their youth due to their circumstances. The lyric “Farewell youth, I’m afraid I hardly got to know you” definitely make you think and hit home for a lot of people, regardless of their situation. It is a great way to close the album, leaving the listeners with a good message to keep in the back of their minds and think about that reflects the other themes of the album.
Overall, The Menzingers outdid themselves with Hello Exile, and they definitely appealed to many new listeners with their different approaches to songs and the variety of sounds on the album. From the political anthem “America (You’re Freaking Me Out),” to the love ballad “Anna,” and even the raw and real “I Can’t Stop Drinking,” the band definitely has something for everyone on this album. Be sure to catch them on their North American and UK/European tours in the upcoming months to hear all your favourites from Hello Exile, as well as their older fan-favorites. Grab your tickets here: https://themenzingers.com/