Poughkeepsie punks One For The Braves deliver a high-tempo and nostalgic pop-punk sound, with new EP Does Anybody Honestly Care – available now through Bandcamp. Their lyric video for title-track “Does Anyone Honestly Care” (watch below) sets a deliciously infectious tone for the homonymous EP, which balances emo-tinged tones with out-and-out ’00s throwback punk to impressive effect.
Check out the band’s track by track for the EP below.
TRACK BY TRACK
Path to the Dark Side
In Star Wars, Yoda tells Anakin that hatred is “the path to the dark side” which when writing a song about pure anger and hatred seemed like the perfect title. The song is a story about my grandpa accidentally burning down his house. Grandpa was not a good man. He was selfish, and family was second to that. Sadly, burning down his house was his last selfish action because smoking was more important to him (even after surviving lung cancer). It was his lit cigarettes left around the house that destroyed the family home. It sounds harsh to say, but after a lifetime of pretending that all was well and people telling me that I shouldn’t feel the way I feel. Finally, I found “the balls” to write a song that tells everyone how I feel and that I won’t be sorry for it.
Fighter Planes
We’ve all (guy or girl) been in that situation where we start talking to someone who is seeing someone else. They are on the fence about should they stay in the relationship or should they leave them for you or someone else? That’s what “Fighter Planes” is all about. It’s about being on the outside looking in at a situation where you are only getting one side of the story. You begin to form your opinions based on only their side of the story only to find out that there’s much more. You start offering advice because they say they “think” they want to end it. They send messages, or at least it feels that way, that they ought to be with you. When it blows up, and they stay in the relationship, it hurts, and you feel like a fool who wasted a bunch of time. When it blew up in my face, I looked back and wondered why I even tried. I knew the risk from the start that my chances were small, but still, I dove in head first and wound up with nothing but confusion and hurt.
Your Wedding Planner’s an Alien in a Wig
No, I was never engaged. I’ve been asked that before, so let me clear that up. The title of this song is an “American Dad” reference to Roger. I think the episode is called “Shallow Vows.” His disguise in the episode is “Jennie Gold, Wedding Planner Extraordinaire.” Roger plans a vow renewal for Stan and Francine. I loved the title idea for this song because it’s about my failures in the world of dating. I suck at it! I overthink every relationship I’ve ever come close to creating because I try to plan for things that may never happen instead of going with the flow. I talk myself out of anything before the wheels even hit the ground. This song is my realization of why I do what I do and how I can’t give into my fear of loneliness and dying alone.
Wrong Turn
I wrote this song about my struggles with the fact I might be becoming an alcoholic, like a number of the men in my family history. Alcoholism has plagued my family in more ways than one. Becoming an alcoholic is something I always keep in the back of my mind — because of the family gene I too could become one. I wrote this at a time where I felt like no matter what I did; I was wrong. I felt doomed to fail at everything I tried. I was drinking more than I should at this time. And then it dawned on me that I might be drinking for the wrong reasons. So I made some changes. I love beer; I just need to remember that it’s a drink for occasions and fun, not a crutch.
Dirt Nap
“Dirt Nap” is my way of letting people know that people hate you. Not everyone in this world is going to like you, hell; some might even wish death upon you. Let them, don’t sweat those people because you don’t need them in your life, and at the end of the day the reason for their animosity usually comes down to their dislike for themselves or the life they have created. My mother always tells me that when I die, I’ll be lucky if I can count my true friends on one hand. That’s fine with me; everyone else can get in line. Whether you hate me for my point of view, the words I say, or the fact that air fills my lungs, I still carry on. To me that is what life is about, acknowledging the bad exists and not letting it ruin your day or affect your life.
Does Anybody Honestly Care
The ironic thing about this song is that it originally wasn’t part of this ep. We wrote it before going into the studio and decided to add it as a sixth song. When I wrote it, I was physically and mentally worn out with no real idea as to why. I had lost all of my ambition and didn’t entirely know how to tell anyone, which got me thinking, even if I could find the words to say what’s wrong, would anyone honestly care? I didn’t even know if I cared. I was blaming the things I was becoming on everything except the poorly thought out choices I made, and it left me feeling defeated and lacking optimism.
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