As the end of the semester approaches I wanted to do my final show on a band that truly represents pop punk. After taking the obvious, iconic choices such as Blink 182 and Taking Back Sunday out of the equation, I decided to go with a more modern and present band, Man Overboard. And after all, they got their name from a Blink song.
The first time I heard of Man Overboard I was standing in the 100 degree July weather in an asphalt parking lot at warped tour waiting for Go Radio to play. I had seen their name around but I had just never taken the time to listen to them. After seeing kids wearing ‘Defend Pop Punk’ shirts left and right throughout the entire day I figured I should give them a listen.
I bought Heart Attack, which was Man Overboard’s most recent release at the time. I loved every single song on the album. From the song “How to Hide Your Feelings” to “S.A.D” the album contained every element to a genuinely great generic pop punk sound. It was like all my favorite pieces from other bands formulated into one perfectly made band. With their whiny-glasses-wearing-front man, reoccurring gang vocals, and nerdy aesthetic; Man Overboard is the most ideal band to rep the phrase ‘Defend Pop Punk.’
As I delved more into the discography of Man Overboard, I realized that the further back I went, the better the music became. “Dead End Dreams,” “Love Your Friends, Die Laughing” and “Atlas” all come from their self-titled album, and holds a little bit more angst and aggression than Heart Attack. My favorite Man Overboard album however, is Real Talk. After a couple EP’s Real Talk was Man Overboard’s first full-length release. The album has a serious nostalgic vibe and the tone just feels like cold weather. With incredible songs such as “Septemberism,” and “I Like You,” they really know how to be relatable with this album. My favorite song by Man Overboard, and probably pretty high on the list of favorite songs in general, is “Montrose.”
Man Overboard released a brand new album Heavy Love earlier this year. Tune into WUSC 90.5 or listen live at wusc.sc.edu this Wednesday from 2-4pm for your last dose of pop punk for the semester with “It’s All Happening!”
