Four Year Strong
Oct 3, 2011
Taking influence from the likes of Lifetime, Gorilla Biscuits, and New Found Glory, Four Year Strong built an aggressive and melody-riddled combination of hardcore, emo-pop, and pop-punk upon their formation in Worcester, MA. The band's lineup -- vocalists/guitarists Dan O'Connor and Alan Day, bassist Joe Weiss, drummer Jake Massucco, and synth player Josh Lyford -- was cemented during the musicians' high-school tenure in 2003, though a form of the band had already existed for several years.
Following the appearance of two self-released EPs, Four Year Strong signed a deal with New Jersey-based imprint I Surrender Records. Their debut full-length, Rise or Die Trying, was issued on the label in September 2007 peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in its debut week. On the back of their increasing popularity, the band was signed to Decaydance Records in February 2008.
On July 21, 2009, Four Year Strong released an album of covers from the 1990s, titled Explains It All. 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 was 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 album sold 12,400 copies in its first week, debuting at number 47 on the Billboard 200.
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. Vocalist Alan Day 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, 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 will be released on November 8, 2011. The first official single from the album, "Just Drive", is impacting Alternative & Active Rock radio now. Four Year Strong will be headlining the Alternative Press Fall Tour with bands Gallow, Title Fight, The Swellers, and Sharks through the end of the year in support of their new album.
AP Tour Fall Tour Dates:
- 10/13 - Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock Cafe
- 10/14 - Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
- 10/15 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
- 10/16 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues
- 10/18 - Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights
- 10/19 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place
- 10/20 - Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe
- 10/21 - Toronto, ONT @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
- 10/22 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
- 10/23 - Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot
- 10/25 - Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
- 10/26 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
- 10/27 - St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
- 10/28 - Kansas City, MO @ The Beaumont Club
- 10/29 - Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
- 10/31 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
- 11/01 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon