Four Year Strong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Four Year Strong
Left to right: Weiss, Day, Massucco, and O'Connor in
2011
Background information
Worcester, Massachusetts, United
Origin
States
Genres
Pop punk, melodic hardcore
Years active 2001present
Decaydance, I Surrender
Labels
Universal Motown (20072012)
Associated
Bury Your Dead, Foxfires, A Day to
acts
Remember
Website
fouryearstrongmusic.com
Members
Dan O'Connor
Alan Day
Jake Massucco
Joe Weiss
Past members Josh Lyford
Four Year Strong is an American pop punk/melodic hardcore band from Worcester,
Massachusetts, formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalists and guitarists Dan O'Connor and
Alan Day, bassist Joe Weiss, and drummer Jackson Massucco. They have released four studio
albums; the latest, In Some Way, Shape or Form, was released on November 8, 2011.
Contents
1 History
o 1.1 Formation and It's Our Time (20012006)
o 1.2 Rise or Die Trying, Explains It All (20062009)
o 1.3 Enemy of the World (20102011)
o 1.4 Josh Lyford's departure, In Some Way, Shape or Form, and Future Plans
(2011present)
2 Touring
3 Musical style
4 Band members
5 Discography
o 5.1 Full lengths
o 5.2 Cover albums
o 5.3 Demos/extended plays
o 5.4 Singles
o 5.5 Music videos
o 5.6 Compilations
6 References
7 External links
History
Formation and It's Our Time (20012006)
This section requires expansion. (March 2011)
This band was formed in Worcester, Massachusetts in 2001 by current members Dan O'Connor,
Alan Day, Joe Weiss, and Jake Massucco as well as former member Josh Lyford. Dan O'Connor,
Alan Day and Jake Massucco all attended Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester and met
through mutual friends.[1] They released their first studio album, It's Our Time, not long after
their formation. The record's run was limited to 400 copies, with varying color CDs. The first
200 were light blue, with subsequent versions in yellow, red, and green. The band briefly
released a demo in 2006, which contained early versions of their songs from Rise or Die Trying
Rise or Die Trying, Explains It All (20062009)
The band's 2007 release Rise or Die Trying with I Surrender Records peaked at number 31 on the
Billboard Heatseekers chart in its debut week.[2] On the back of their increasing popularity, the
band was signed to Decaydance Records in February 2008.[3]
On July 21, 2009, Four Year Strong released an album of covers from the 1990s, titled Explains
It All. 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.[4] The band explained their
reasoning behind the album in a MySpace blog, saying "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."[5]
Enemy of the World (20102011)
The band's third full-length album, Enemy of the World, was released on March 9, 2010 on
Universal Motown Records. The band released the album's first single, "It Must Really Suck to
Be Four Year Strong Right Now", on December 21, 2009. The name of the song is a reference to
the final sentence of a review in Alternative Press in which the magazine praised Set Your Goals'
new album while remarking on the future of Four Year Strong and how their record would
compare. The vinyl record was made available to pre-order on March 2, 2010. The album sold
12,400 copies in its first week, debuting at number 47 on the Billboard 200. Four Year Strong has
accompanied Set Your Goals in an Asian tour, but both canceled touring in Indonesia.
Josh Lyford's departure, In Some Way, Shape or Form, and Future Plans (2011
present)
On April 3, 2011, it was announced that Josh Lyford would be leaving the band. Initially, it was
implied that Lyford had chosen to leave in order to focus on his side project, Foxfires. However,
it was later confirmed by both Lyford and Alan Day, that the band had elected to remove
synthesizers from their sound leaving no room for Lyford to continue.
On April 13, 2011, in an interview with Alternative Press, the band revealed that they had been
in the middle of recording their fourth studio album with producer David Bendeth in New
Jersey's House of Loud. The band is set to return to the studio, without Josh Lyford, to finish the
album in June, after they finish touring with Rise Against.[6] Vocalist Alan Day has also revealed
that the new songs the band had written were very diverse, and that the new material is different
than anything the band has ever written. While touring with Rise Against, they have been playing
a newly recorded, yet unreleased, song called "Falling on You".
On August 18, 2011, the band released "Stuck in the Middle", a new song from the upcoming
album. The band announced that the new album will be titled In Some Way, Shape, or Form, and
would be released on November 8, 2011.[7] On September 8, 2011, the band released another
song from the album, titled "Falling on You".[8] The first official single from the album, "Just
Drive", was released on September 27, 2011.[9] During the Fall 2011 AP Tour, the band played
another new unreleased song which will be released on the upcoming album. The band dedicated
it to fans who have been there "from the very beginning, and will be there till the very end"; a
video of the song has been leaked on YouTube. It is called "Fairweather Fan".[10]
In an interview, it was revealed that Four Year Strong would be playing the Warped Tour 2012.
As of May 15, 2012, Four Year Strong departed ways with their label Universal
Motown/Universal Republic.[11] Regardless of the departure of the label, the band is still active as
they played at the 2012 Warped Tour, and they performed with Blink-182 on their U.K. and
Ireland tour.
As of 2013, rumors have speculated if Four Year Strong has broken up. Dan O'Connor had been
married to his wife for almost two years, and Alan Day started his side project The Here And
Now, an alternative/blues group who released an EP of music this year. When interviewed by
PropertyOfZach, Day mentioned that the band isn't breaking up but rather taking time off. Going
further, he said, "This is the first time in five years or more that weve taken more than three
weeks off on tour...Were definitely not breaking up. It seems like a lot of people are saying that,
but I dont know why theyre saying that. Just because we havent come through your city three
times this year doesnt mean were broken up."[12]
Touring
The band has done multiple national tours, sharing the stage with such bands as The Starting
Line, Slip On It, Hellogoodbye, From First to Last, Every Time I Die, Meg & Dia, Hidden in
Plain View, Alexisonfire, All Time Low, Mayday Parade, New Found Glory, Bayside and Steel
Train. The band toured in FebruaryApril 2009 as part of the Taste of Chaos tour, alongside
Thursday, Bring Me the Horizon, Pierce the Veil, and Cancer Bats. They undertook the Summer
co-headline tour with Set Your Goals, and also Fireworks, The Swellers, Polar Bear Club, A Loss
for Words, Drive A and Grave Maker from July to August 2009. Four Year Strong also
performed on the Australian Soundwave festival in February and March 2010, alongside
headliners Faith No More, Jane's Addiction, Placebo; also playing alongside Alexisonfire, Set
Your Goals, A Day to Remember, Paramore, It Dies Today, Gallows, Emarosa, A Wilhelm
Scream, Anthrax, All Time Low, Escape the Fate, This Is Hell, Enter Shikari, Anti-Flag,
Baroness, Comeback Kid, The Almost, Dance Gavin Dance, Architects, You Me at Six, Rolo
Tomassi, Dichi Michi, Sunny Day Real Estate and many more. In May 2010, the band subbed
the mainstage at Slam Dunk Festival in Hatfield and Leeds, playing alongside New Found Glory,
Set Your Goals, The Wonder Years, Hit The Lights and many more. The band was in the lineup
for Vans Warped Tour 2010 and played on the Altec Lansing stage alongside Breathe Carolina,
Hey Monday, and Set Your Goals.[13] They also played the first day on the Bamboozle festival.
Late 2010, Four Year Strong headlined a tour with Comeback Kid, The Wonder Years, American
Fangs, and Mountain Man. The tour was titled "Tonight We Feel Alive!", and spanned the entire
United States. In February, 2011, Four Year Strong co-headlined the Kerrang! Relentless Tour
2011 with Good Charlotte with support from Framing Hanley and The Wonder Years. The tour
began on February 3, 2011 in Dublin, Ireland. On February 15, 2011 it was announced that they
had been added to support Blink-182 on their UK tour alongside You Me at Six. They will be
joining Rise Against and Bad Religion on a US summer tour in 2011. They have also announced
that they will come back to Australia later in the year to play Soundwave Revolution along with
already announced bands The Damned Things, Story of the Year, Every Time I Die,
Hellogoodbye, We Are the In Crowd and many others. The band will be with New Found Glory
and Attack Attack! in September 2011 in Brazil on the XLive Music Festival (Curitiba 08/09,
Rio de Janeiro 09/09 and So Paulo 10/09). It was announced the band would be supporting
Blink-182 during their UK Arena tour in summer 2011, however, the tour was postponed till
2012, but Four Year Strong will be supporting, along with Blink-182 and The All-American
Rejects, but only for their chosen dates. The other dates are taken up by Twin Atlantic and The
Blackout. Four Year Strong toured in the UK in January 2012, along with Don Broco as support.
[14]
Musical style
The band's sound can be described as a blend of pop punk and hardcore punk. This genre is
popularly referred to as "popcore", easycore or "happycore" and in some cases, it is jokingly
referred to as 'Beardcore' because of the band's facial hair. Their music tends to be very fast
paced and motivational as well. 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.[15] The band has cited their influences as being Lifetime, Saves the Day, Gorilla
Biscuits, Blink-182, and New Found Glory, to name a few. The band's lyrics also have many
references to 1990s pop culture. Though the band would primarily start out as a post-hardcore
outfit, the release of their demo in 2004 would mark a shift from post-hardcore to more
synthesizer-heavy tracks, where the band would begin to embrace the styles of power pop and
general hardcore punk. 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, and breakdowns.
For their third studio album, Enemy of the World, the band decided to expand upon their hardcore
influences. For the fourth album, In Some Way, Shape, or Form, the band changed their sound
once again as they switched to alternative rock but seemingly kept to their Post hardcore roots.
Band members
Current members
Dan O'Connor - lead vocals, guitars
(2001-present)
Alan Day - lead vocals, guitars (2001present)
Joe Weiss - bass guitar, backing vocals
Former members
Josh Lyford - keyboards, unclean vocals
(20062011)
(2004-present)
Jake Massucco - drums (2001-present)
Discography
This section requires expansion. (February 2010)
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 are 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
Billboard 200
peak[16]
-
Label
January 2005
September 18,
2007
It's Our Time
Open Your Eyes Records
Rise or Die Trying
I Surrender Records
March 9, 2010
Enemy of the World
November 8, 2011
In Some Way, Shape or
Form
Decaydance/Motown
Records
Decaydance/Motown
Records
47
88
Cover albums
Date of release
July 21, 2009
Title
Explains It All
Label
Decaydance/I Surrender
Billboard 200 peak
115
Demos/extended plays
Date of release
November 22, 2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
March 9, 2010
October 2011
Title
All the Lonely Girls
The Glory
3-Track Demo
5-Track Demo
Rise or Die Trying (Unmixed)
It's Not the Size of the 7"... It's How You Use It
AP Tour Fall 2011 7"
Singles
Title
"It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now"
"Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)"
Date of release
December 21, 2009
February 9, 2010
Music videos
Title
"Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die"
"Bada Bing! Wit' a Pipe!"
"It Must Really Suck to be Four Year Strong Right Now"
"Tonight We Feel Alive (On a Saturday)"
"Stuck in the Middle"
"Just Drive"
Date of release
2007
2008
2010
2010
2011
2011
Compilations
Punk the Clock Vol. III: Property of a Gentleman
o "Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die (alternative version)
Take Action! Vol. 7
o "Heroes Get Remembered Legends Never Die" (music video)
The Sounds of Summer Sampler Vol. 2
o "Bada Bing! Wit' a Pipe!"
Warped Tour 2008 Tour Compilation
o "Bada Bing! Wit' a Pipe!"
A Tribute to Blink 182: Pacific Ridge Records Heroes of Pop-Punk
o "Dumpweed" (Blink-182 cover)
Warped Tour 2010 Tour Compilation
o "Tonight We Feel Alive (On a Saturday)"
Punk Goes Pop 2
o "Love Song" (Sara Bareilles cover)
Warped Tour 2012 Tour Compilation
o "Not to Toot My Own Horn But, Beep Beep"
