Photo by Lupe Bustos

23 years ago, the Starting Line told us that we could have the best of them. They lied. As one of the smarter bands from the third wave of pop-punk-indebted emo, it appears that they saved reaching that point for a couple of decades later, as they’re just reaching their creative peak on their recently-released and very aptly-titled post-reunion effort, Eternal Youth. It’s without a doubt the year’s biggest scene surprise, going harder and smarter than ever before, especially when held up to the rest of their peers who are merely living off nostalgia tour paychecks.

On the album highlight “I See How It Is”, you can hear exactly just how well the Pennsylvania punks’ elder emo status has worn down on them. Frontman Kenny Vasoli is in a comfortable pocket with his gritty, age-stained shouting anthems within the throes of braided, heavyweight class melodic hardcore riffs that show just how much they were fucking with the next gen of local heroes Title Fight during the writing stages of the listen. Getting modern scene sonic perfectionist Will Yip behind the boards in the studio with them only did their reinvigorated rock ways a favor. “All the sudden colors looking more brilliant,” he sings. It’s important to point out this album almost didn’t happen at all, but better late than never: the Starting Line are having a proper glow up.

Directed by: Lupe Bustos

The Starting Line’s Eternal Youth is available now on Lineage Recordings.