Joyce Manor is one of those bands that I always follow, a band that shaped my tastes in my earlier years of digging into pop punk/emo subculture. Let’s say I would like to thankgod, ‘cause 2022 is a year where a lot of good stuff is coming out and unfortunately 40 oz. to Fresno is not so good for me. Well it's not an easy task to review one of your favorite bands as they put out bad stuff.
The previous works like Million Dollars To Kill Me and Cody were good stuff and I would guess this may be a factor for the band, having its own "burden" on meeting expectations. Also writing in quarantine times seems not a good fit for everyone, maybe Joyce Manor. As revealed on the press release, the singer/songwriter of the band, Barry Johnson, wrote the whole record during the quarantine times when originally the band planned to take a small break from music. And yes I think about one word for this case, "burnout". Well as a fan, I would always suggest that it is nice to see one of our favorites take a break from anything instead of seeing them being unhappy to do the thing they used to love. It is sad, I know!
The album starts with a track called "Souvenir". This is one of the "okay" songs. I love the lead guitar that vibes with the classic stuff of Joyce Manor. Also the vocal melody is lovely stuff. The band did it right to put this at the beginning of the album.
The next track is called "You're Not Famous Anymore". I can say the vocal melody for this song is not as good as Joyce Manor used to be. The song itself leaves a "plain taste" and I can't find any strong point whether at the chorus or even at its verse.
My next highlighted track is "Did You Ever Know?" It's a track that’s just plain. I would say no for the verse part. The melody vocal part on the verse is the worst part of the album and this part makes Barry Johnson's voice sound like it’s singing a wrong note. The bright side is the chorus, where its vocal melody sounds better. Still, this part can not convince my head that it’s an addictive track that I could play over and over again.
The next one is a track called "Gotta Let It Go". To me, it's of the best written songs of the album. I guess the band presents its best, starting from its lead guitar, filled by damn fine jaggling upper string guitar jam. And the vocal melody on the verse tells me that this is the true Joyce Manor -- if they could maintain it for the most of the album. And maybe this is one of my most favorite tracks overall, even though it's released on the worst record that Joyce Manor ever made.
In conclusion, 40 oz to Fresno is in the middle of the mediocre and bad on the quality radar. Some songs are just totally mediocre but some songs are just too bad in comparison to their entire career. But I can't say that there are no good songs on this record: songs like "Souvenir" and "Gotta Let It Go" are prominent for becoming an anthem for the fans. Yes, I'll be stick around and waiting for my favorite band on earth, Joyce Manor, to produce another great one.
