Four Year Strong
is a five-piece American pop punk/ melodic hardcore band from Worcester, Massachusetts.
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FOUR YEAR STRONG TICKETS
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History
3/5 of the current band members were in the original lineup that dates back to 2001. Dan, Alan, and Jake all attended
Doherty Memorial High School in
Worcester, Massachusetts, and eventually ended up meeting through introductions from mutual friends. After the departure of the original bassist, 2 or 3 years after formation, the band met Joe, eventually asking him to fill the position as the band's bassist. Four Year Strong's earlier compositions never included any keyboards, or synthesizers, but soon began to incorporate its sound into their music. The band cycled through many keyboardists, but recruited their current keyboardist Josh Lyford in late 2006. Over the past years, the band has done multiple national tours, sharing the stage with such bands as
The Starting Line,
Hellogoodbye,
From First to Last,
Every Time I Die,
Meg & Dia,
Hidden in Plain View,
All Time Low,
Mayday Parade,
New Found Glory,
Bayside and
Steel Train. The band toured in February-April 2009 as part of the
Taste of Chaos tour, alongside
Thursday,
Bring Me the Horizon,
Pierce the Veil, and
Cancer Bats. They are going on the Summer Co-Headline Tour w/
Set Your Goals guests include
Set Your Goals,
Fireworks,
The Swellers,
Polar Bear Club,
A Loss For Words,
Drive A, &
Grave Maker from July 16 to August 26, 2009. Four Year Strong have also been confirmed for the Soundwave Tour (Australia 2010)
The band's 2007 release
Rise or Die Trying
hit #31 on the
Billboard Heatseekers chart in 2007.
[1] Four Year Strong was signed to
Decaydance in February 2008.
[2]
On July 21st, 2009, Four Year Strong released an album of covers from the 90's. The album features guest appearances from Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, and JR and Buddy of Less Than Jake.
[3] The band explained their reasoning behind the album in a Myspace blog posting -
We’ve always loved the 90’s. Pogs, “The Sandlot”, bowl cuts, “The Mighty Ducks”, JNCO jeans, “Full House”, Goosebumps books, Airwalks, “Home Alone”, the list goes on forever.
Most importantly, there was the music.
It’s what we grew up listening to. Everyone has those songs that instantly transport you back to when you were younger. Whether we were in our bedrooms playing air guitar, or riding in the car to little league practice, or it was just that song that was all over the radio during that awesome summer at the Cape. These songs have impacted us in some way and we want to share that feeling with you.
And so, we are proud to present Four Year Strong Explains It All. We've recorded some of our favorite songs from the 90s and this is our opportunity to show you guys some of the influences that helped make Four Year Strong what it is.
We're not going to spill the beans on the track listing just yet, but we’re sure that you guys can definitely make some close guesses. We're doing this because we love it. Plain and simple. With that said, we hope you all enjoy the record as much as we enjoyed making it. [4]
Musical Style
The band's sound can be described as a blend of
Pop punk,
Hardcore, and
power pop. The band simply developed their sound off the idea of playing 'exactly what they want to hear' or music that they would listen to, but no one else was playing at the time.
[5] The band has cited their influences as being
Lifetime,
Saves the Day,
Gorilla Biscuits, and
New Found Glory to name a few. Though the band would primarily start out as a
post-hardcore and
emo outfit, the release of their demo in 2004 would mark a shift from
post-hardcore to more
synthesizer-heavy tracks, where the band would began to embrace the styles of
power pop and general
punk rock. Prior to the release of and at times within
Rise or Die Trying
, the band also incorporates more facets of modern
hardcore, such as
double bass drums, breakdowns, and
screaming vocals with the addition of
synthesizers. Since a number of the band's songs are composed of hardcore breakdowns, soaring choruses, and upbeat
tempos, many fans have mistakenly dubbed their musical style as 'Happy Hardcore,' though in reality this refers to a type of
dance music popular in the mid-90's.
Band Members
Current Members
Dan O'Connor -
Guitar/Vocals
Alan Day -
Guitar/Vocals
Joe Weiss -
Bass
Jackson "Jake" Massucco -
Drums
Josh Lyford -
Synth
Former Members
Teddy Petsas -
Vocals
Ardie Petsas -
Bass
Bryan Gregoire -
Vocals
Bryan McElwain -
Drums
John Dagnello -
Guitar
Eric Stone -
Synth
Tim Savas -
Synth
Chris Curran -
Synth
Tom Rooney -
Synth
[6]
Discography
Four Year Strong, though more widely known for the music made from the year 2004 onward, have multiple releases (dating back as far as 2002) in their catalog.
Rise or Die Trying
marks their label debut. In addition to these records, Four Year Strong is also notorious for leaking pre-album material of their own, whether as a "secret song" or new album demo. Their releases are as follows:
Full lengths
Date of release
| Title
| Label
| Billboard 200 peak
|
January, 2005
| It's Our Time
| Open Your Eyes Records
| -
|
September 18, 2007
| Rise or Die Trying
| I Surrender Records
| -
|
July 21, 2009
| Explains It All
| Decaydance/I Surrender
| #115
|
Demos/EPs
Title
| Date of Release
| Tracks
|
Demo [2002]
| November 22, 2002
|
# Run With Me
# The Strong, The Heartbroken
# The Eleventh Recalled
# Dream The Impossible Dream
# Blue Light Romance
|
The Glory EP
| 2003
|
# This Summer Session
# Easier To Wait And See
# The Bitter Taste Of Victory
# One Time Too Many
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Demo [2004]
| 2004
|
# Baseball Bats And Boogeymen
# Live From The Crime Scene
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Demo [2005]
| November 9, 2005
|
# Go Long Dad
# Not To Toot My Own Horn But.. BEEP BEEP
# So Hot And You Sweat On It
# Your Song
# Beatdown In The Key Of Happy
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Demo [2006]
| 2006
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# Sparkle Motion
# Heroes Fade Kid, Legends Never Die
# Death Is The Only Adventure I Have Left
# Angles With Filthy Souls
# Your Ego's Writing Checks Your Body Can't Cash
# Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Hell
# Badda Bing!.. Wit' A Pipe!
# Wrecked 'Em? Damn Near Killed 'Em!
# Calling All Cars
# Gotta Get Out
# Angles With Even Filthier Souls
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Compilations
- Punk The Clock Vol. III: Property Of A Gentleman
- *"Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die (Alternate Version)
- Take Action! Vol. 7
- *"Heroes Get Remembered Legends Never Die" (Music video).
- The Sounds of Summer Sampler Vol. 2
- *"Bada Bing! Wit' a Pipe!".
- Warped Tour 2008 Tour Compilation
- *"Bada Bing! Wit' a Pipe!"
- A Tribute to Blink 182: Pacific Ridge Records Heroes of Pop-Punk
- *"Dumpweed" (Blink-182 cover)
- Punk Goes Pop 2
- *"Love Song" (Sara Bareilles cover)
Unreleased songs
# "Angels With Filthy Souls" (Reworked as "The Takeover")
# "Angels With Even Filthier Souls" (Reworked as "Maniac (R.O.D)")
# "Can You Blow Me Where The Pampers Is?" (Reworked as "Prepare To Be Digitally Manipulated")
# "Death is the Only Adventure We Have Left" (Reworked as "Catastrophe")
# "Heroes Fade Kid, Legends Never Die" (Reworked as 'Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die")
# "Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die (Alternate version)" [Featured on
Punk the Clock
compilation]
# "Sparkle Motion"
# "Your Ego is Writing Cheques Your Body Can't Cash"
# "Bada Bing With A Pipe (Acoustic)" [Featured on Purevolume.com Lost Sessions]
# "If He Is Here, Then Who's Running Hell (Acoustic)" [Featured on Purevolume.com Lost Sessions]
Trivia
- The band was originally named A Four Year Strong
.
PRP: How did you come up with the name "Four Year Strong"?
FYS: When the band was formed by Teddy, Dan and Teddy wanted a name that described the bond that they had with their group of friends and how they would always be that way. So they came up with (A) Four Year Strong, which means friendships through high school. Then they took off the "A" at the beginning, and Four Year Strong was formed.
Question taken from
- Dan O'Connor was previously a member of Massachusetts hardcore band Bury Your Dead.
- Jake Massucco was also the drummer for the Massachusetts hardcore band I Rise
.
- Though Alan was originally the band's lead vocalist, him and Dan O'Connor would switch lead and backing vocal duties during the in production of their 2004 demo.
- Four Year Strong is known for using lines from various movies as their song titles:
"Wrecked Him? Damn Near Killed 'Em!" -
Men in Black II
"Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die" -
The Sandlot
"If He's Here, Who's Runnin' Hell" -
Van Wilder
"Abandon Ship or Abandon All Hope" -
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
"You Ego is Writing Checks Your Body Can't Cash" -
Top Gun
"Can You Blow Me Where the Pampers Is?" -
PCU
"Angels With Filthy Souls" -
Home Alone
"Angels With Even Filthier Souls" -
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
"Sparkle Motion" -
Donnie Darko
"Vash: the Stampede" -
Trigun
References
- Chart Positions, Allmusic.com
- signed
- [1]
- [1]
- Year Strong, Absolutepunk.com
- 2003 Interview