WEDNESDAY | 2.22.2017 | MACEANDCROWN.COM | Vol. 60, Issue 18
Joyce Manor Not Another Pop-Punk Headache
Kelsey Walker Arts & Entertainment Editor A string of Converse-clad teens lined up outside for the sold-out Joyce Manor show at Shakas Live on Feb. 11, anxiously awaited to get their hands marked with the signature black X’s signifying their youth. Compiled by Barry Johnson (vocals, guitar), Chase Knobbe (guitar), Matt Ebert (vocals, bass) and Jeff Enzor (drums), Joyce Manor has collected a cult following among teens and twentysomethings trying to navigate the years of early adulthood. Catchy guitar riffs and gut-wrenchingly relatable lyrics provide the base for their four studio albums, mostly composed of under-two-minute tracks, leading up to their latest release, “Cody.” Mannequin Pussy opened the night, fronted by lead singer Marisa Dabice. A mix between grunge-rock, shoegazer and punk, the band played powerfully and unabashed despite the audience’s obvious unfamiliarity. At one point, someone tossed a bra to
Dabice during their set. Not skipping a beat, she hung the garment around her neck. “Did the person who threw this plan on getting it back?” she asked. Musically, Dabice’s tone was one of bitterness, and the lyrics echoed feelings of a mid-twenties identity crisis. “I feel so separated from what I thought I’d be and what I am,” she sings on “Denial.” Following Mannequin Pussy, AJJ seemed to be better known by the crowd. Shortened from Andrew Jackson Jihad, AJJ exhibits a folkpunk sound chock-full of sing-along lyrics. Frontman Sean Bonnette even played an acoustic guitar. Themes of self-loathing and despair were evident in crowd-favorite, “Heartilation.” “I wanna break apart my heart / Douse it in Gasoline / ‘Til the fire burns clean / Then flick a cigarette / Like that movie ‘Con-Air.’” The energized crowd sang along loudly to the fast-paced song, bobbing their heads and building momentum. After nearly an hour-long set and
followed by immense applause, AJJ left the stage. The crowd grew larger as time grew closer to the main event. As the lights dimmed and Joyce Manor took the stage, stragglers from the bathroom ran and pushed their way into the crowd. Without saying a word, they opened with “Beach Community,” a guitar-heavy, melodic hit from their self-titled, debut album.
“What can you do when you’re not getting sober? / It’s hard to admit but you’re always feeling alone,” Johnson sang. “A few miles down / As the streets count backwards / I realize it’s true / Everything reminds me of you.”
see JOYCE, page B1
Barry Johnson (guitar, vocals) of Joyce Manor. Photo by Sean Mattias
Photo by Shamon Jones
Monarch Baseball Shutting Out LIU
Read More, page C1
'Valve' Replacement Nathan Laplante Contributing Writer Valve Corporation, the company behind the popular online game marketplace “Steam," has recently revealed that they fully intend to replace their controversial Greenlight program with a new service called “Steam Direct." The Steam Greenlight Program was launched in 2012 and was put forth to give independent developers a chance to pitch their games with the hope of being put on the Steam storefront. Through the Greenlight process, developers would pay an initial $100 fee for the posting, and then Steam users would then vote on the games that they liked. Games with the most votes would become available for purchase on the online marketplace. While this method has produced several commercially and critically successful “indie” games, such as the critically-acclaimed side-scrolling platformer “Broforce," the process was notorious for lacking reasonable standards of quality control. This led to the marketplace becoming saturated with broken, low-quality and in many cases copyright-infringing games. Perhaps the most notable example of Greenlight “shovelware” was the infamous “Slaughtering Grounds,” developed by a group then known as “Digital Homicide.” "Slaughtering Grounds" was criticized for being developed almost entirely from pre-made assets purchased from an online store in a practice commonly known as “asset-flipping." The developer also came under fire for it’s use of uncredited Google stock imagery for the game’s effects. Practices such as these were fairly common within the Greenlight program, as they resulted in cheap and easy-to-develop products. This lack of quality control within the Greenlight program drew criticism from both users and game journalists alike, and it appears that this backlash is at least partially responsible for the implementation of Steam Direct. see VALVE, page D1