Chicago’s Action/Adventure have been grinding the pop-punk trenches since 2014. They have always played pop-punk like it still has something to prove because for them, it does. They went viral in 2020 on TikTok with their song “Barricades” by calling out the exact thing no one in the scene wanted to say out loud. The genre is full of white bands singing about being outsiders, while the actual outsiders get ignored. Since then, they’ve signed to Pure Noise Records, dropped two releases (Pulling Focus, Imposter Syndrome), toured their asses off, and racked up everything from hype to burnout. Their newest offering, Ever After is the sound of pop-punk growing up without losing the bruises.
This record opens with “DAYTERROR” and ends with “Daydream”, and that’s intentional. It starts with the question every musician on the verge of breaking down eventually asks: “Is this where I’m meant to be?” From there, the album runs like a spiral through doubt, grit, growth, and the version of “success” nobody warns you is still full of bills, jobs, emotional exhaustion, and every kind of second-guessing.
Produced by Alan Day (Four Year Strong), the record leans heavier than previous ones. Not metalcore heavy, but emotionally and sonically thicker, punchier, guitars dialed in with more bite than ever. Songs like “Something Isn’t Right Here” bring in Dan Lambton (ex-Real Friends / rationale.), while “Background” features Ben Jorgensen of Armor For Sleep — who even wrote his own bridge, which somehow makes the collab feel less like clout and more like community. “Go Directly To Jail…” featuring Noahfinnce goes full pop-punk-rage-at-capitalism, Monopoly reference and all.
What makes Ever After work isn’t just bigger riffs, but its honesty. The band doesn’t fake confidence; they claw toward it. They sing about loving what they do and hating what it takes to do it. They don’t pretend being on a label makes life easier. They don’t pretend touring fixes your brain. They don’t pretend “ever after” is a fairytale ending. It’s just the rest of the story. The choruses are catchy, memorable and make you want to sing-a-long at the top of your lungs.
This 13-song release is the sound of a band choosing the hard road on purpose. Fans of the older A Day To Remember, Knuckle Puck, and The Story So Far need to put this heavily into rotation. Pop-punk isn’t just for the already-known voices. Heavier, hungrier, still swinging even when the dream hurts. Not happily ever after but ever after anyway.
