MODERN BASEBALL.

My current music taste encompasses many, many genres. However, I mainly prefer to listen to alternative rock on a day to day basis. My infatuation with this type of music starts with my discovery of the band Modern Baseball about five years ago. Modern Baseball’s emo and pop punk sound eased me out of my limited musical insight and encouraged me to find new bands and artists to listen to.

Modern Baseball is an American rock band that is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band formed in 2011 when high school friends Brendan Lukens and Jake Ewald started making music as an acoustic duo. Later on, Sean Huber (drums) and Ian Farmer (bass) also joined the band. Initially, the band played house shows and around Drexel University and made their way up the basement scene. To this day, the band has released three albums with the most recent one being Holy Ghost (2016). Moreover, their second album, which was released in 2014, reached #97 on Billboard 200. The genres of music that their songs fall into are folk punk, emo, pop punk, rock, and indie rock. One especially interesting thing to note about this band is that their name was inspired by an old book owned by Ewald’s dad which was titled Modern Baseball Techniques that was found the evening the original duo decided to form a band.

Over the years, Modern Baseball has toured with other similar-sounding acts such as Joyce Manor, The Front Bottoms, Brand New, The Wonder Years, and Knuckle Puck. Unfortunately, this band unofficially split up in 2017 after calling off a planned tour due to mental health reasons. The band has since then announced that they are on an indefinite hiatus and have no future plans of playing with eachother again (unless they feel like it).

Main themes found within Modern Baseball’s music include romantic relationships, mental illness, addiction, friendship, youth, etc. Although Modern Baseball writes and sings about many serious things, their songs contain a refreshing, hopeful, and fun atmosphere. Some songs are heavier than others, but generally their music relays awkward and hazy teenage memories– Sweaty hands. Your first relationship. Drunken college parties. Unforgettable regrets. This coming of age period sparks different experiences within everyone but the general feeling of nostalgia, emotion, and edginess permeates each Modern Baseball song.

One of my favorite songs by Modern Baseball is called “The Weekend.” This song focuses on the importance of having a supportive friend group that will always be there for you. No matter what situation you’re in, what you’re wearing, or how you’re feeling it’s an amazing relief to know that you have people to rely on for a good time. Sometimes the world passes us by so fast or anxiety heightens negative emotions, but leaning upon friends can be the greatest solution to these problems as Ewald sings “You got a smile that could light this town/ And we might need it/ Cause it gets dark around here/ Real dark around here.”