Joyce Manor have paid tribute to one of their favorite songwriters on new single “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives,” the latest taste from their forthcoming album I Used to Go to This Bar. The titular Mark Chen fronted the bands Summer Vacation and Winter Break (neither of which, according to Barry Johnson, got “quite as popular as they deserved to”), the former of which Joyce Manor released a split with prior to dropping their debut album in 2011. The hard-charging homage begins with a chugging guitar melody before a catchy singalong chorus gives the song a propulsive pop feel. “I just love Mark’s songwriting and voice,” Johnson shared.
“Lyrically, the song was inspired by [bandmate Chase Knobbe] and I hanging out,” he added, “drinking and smoking weed and laughing about stuff, and we were talking about how when weed clubs first started, they’d give you a free dab and the budtender would do a dab with you. Dabs are insanely gnarly. I was cracking myself up imagining some 19-year-old girl that just did her third dab of the hour before getting robbed at gunpoint, because they’d always get robbed as cash businesses. That's the imagery of the song: Those early days when weed was still not super fully legal. It was like the Wild West, a little bit.”
I Used to Go to This Bar will arrive via Epitaph Records on January 30. Check out the black and white studio clip for “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives” below, and pre-order the LP here.
