The Drexel Listen: Modern Baseball

There is something chilling about when you put on an album and the melodies take you back to a familiar place.  Close your eyes and you are moved to your friend’s basement with sing alongs and acoustic guitars.  That’s the sensation I got when I tuned in to Modern Baseball. The pop-punk quartet is originally from Maryland and have relocated to Philadelphia to attend college at Drexel.  Their line up includes Brendan Lukens, Jacob Ewald, Ian “Slugworth” Farmer, and Sean Huber.  Since the founding of Modern Baseball in 2011, the band has released two EP’s, “The Nameless Ranger” and “Couples Therapy,” and their first full length record Sports.

 

You’re Gonna Miss It All was released October 30 of last year on Run For Cover Records and has been rocking my ear buds since.  It is the band’s second album and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted to say.  I’m over the typical “feel sorry for me” pity party that most of the pop-punk genre is made up of, but this album has become my guilty pleasure. The lyrics are a taste of honest reality with lines like “caught between my adolescent safety net and where the world wants me to be.” Modern Baseball cleverly uses the raw, nasally vocals I’ve heard so many times before.  The hook of “Rock Bottom,” “Shut up and make out already / do something I’m waiting,” is something I’ve always wanted to holler at my friends on a Friday night when I have the spins.

 

Two weeks ago, everywhere you turned someone was blabbering about how cold their feet were from standing outside for 6 hours.  Modern Baseball held a video shoot for their song “Your Graduation” at FDR Skate Park February 9.  Hearing the same song over and over can be quite irritating when your internal temperature passes its freezing point, but it was well worth it.  The band asked all their Philly fans to bring something outlandish to throw around while they shot a live performance scene in the snow.

 

These Drexel boys will be touring alongside The Wonder Years and Real Friends in the coming months.  You’re lucky if you got tickets to their show at the Electric Factory April 12, because it’s sold out!

 

There are very few albums of this genre that impress me.  Modern Baseball has created a genuine and real album that can easily be the soundtrack to your walk from class to class around campus.