How South Bay’s contradictions shaped Joyce Manor’s enduring pop-punk sound

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While driving around Long Beach near the coast, the band Joyce Manor stumbled upon a place that’s become a bit of a legend for pop-punk fans: the Joyce Manor midcentury condominium on Alamitos Avenue. With its Art Deco sign and location just off Ocean Boulevard, the small complex feels like a charming piece of classic Southern California history. It’s easy to imagine Elvis Presley stepping out of it, like something from one of his beach movies.

Joyce Manor actually got its name from a location, but the original spot is a few miles away in Torrance. Bassist Matt Ebert says fans often visit and share photos of their trips online.

Barry Johnson, the band’s singer, explains, ‘It doesn’t really mean much to me personally.’ He used to walk by the building on his way to an old job when the band was just starting out. ‘It’s strange,’ he adds, ‘it’s become a huge part of who I am and my life, but it’s still just two words. And I’ve actually never even gone inside.’

The name Joyce Manor has become synonymous with a thriving, down-to-earth side of Southern California culture—the vibrant local punk scene in Los Angeles.

For almost twenty years, Joyce Manor has been a beloved band, earning both critical acclaim – their 2014 album “Never Hungover Again” was named one of the best of the 2010s by Pitchfork – and a dedicated fanbase. Recently, they’ve enjoyed even more visibility, including touring with Weezer, having their song “Constant Headache” featured in the popular show “The Bear,” and selling out major venues like the Hollywood Palladium and Long Beach Arena. Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus even joined them onstage at the Long Beach Arena to perform their song “Heart Tattoo.”

The band will be releasing their seventh album, “I Used to Go to This Bar,” later this month on their label, Epitaph. The songs impressed Epitaph’s founder, Brett Gurewitz – the guitarist from Bad Religion and a well-known figure in L.A. punk – so much that he came out of retirement to produce the album.

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Gurewitz, known for his wordy songwriting, really appreciates how concise and elegant Barry’s lyrics are. He compares Barry’s writing style to that of Ernest Hemingway and Tim Armstrong, and even suggests Barry is like the ‘Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan’ of punk music.

Comedian John Mulaney is also a fan and helped launch their career by booking them for their first live television appearance. This happened on his Netflix talk show, in an episode celebrating L.A. punk music and featuring original members of influential bands like Fear, X, the Germs, Minutemen, the Cramps, and Gun Club.

Mulaney said in an email that the band was a standout part of the week. He recalled that Ted Sarandos and others at the studio were curious about who they were, and that watching them play made him enthusiastic about drums, guitars, and the power of loud music.

Johnson says they had a really fun time performing with Richard Kind, and he was still smiling when I mentioned the show that night.

Joyce Manor initially burst onto the scene with a lot of confidence – their first album in 2011 really defined a specific moment in punk music, a time guitarist Chase Knobbe jokingly refers to as “the MGMT era.” Now, the band is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. This could be due to their consistently strong and well-received albums, or simply the fact that the core members – Johnson, Ebert, and Knobbe – have stayed together for so long. Johnson, 39, is the band’s primary songwriter and spokesperson, always happy to share details about the band’s history and their hometown of Long Beach. Knobbe, 34, is more quiet, but equally knowledgeable about the local music scene. Ebert, also 39, is the most polite of the three, and still considered the newest member, even though he joined 17 years ago – Johnson and Knobbe started the band a year before he came on board.

Despite their success, the band still calls the South Bay home, and I was thrilled to experience the area through their perspective. I thought a tour of Torrance, focusing on places important to Joyce Manor, would be a great way to start.

Johnson pointed out the lack of music venues in Torrance, sounding disappointed. He explained that the city has never had a place where bands could perform, gain exposure, and open for larger acts – something nearby Orange County offers. Ebert added that they haven’t played a show in Torrance since 2010, when they performed at the now-closed Gable House Bowl, where they first met through a bowling league.

For a tour of places important to the band’s history, the members chose to stay in Long Beach, and Knobbe drove us around. One key stop was a house nicknamed “The Hickey Underworld,” where Joyce Manor played some of their first shows. Knobbe joked it felt like playing in someone’s living room, and the band credits the free rehearsal space and late-night jam sessions with helping them get started. We also visited Johnson’s old apartment, where he recorded the “Constant Headache” demos before signing with Epitaph and releasing their first album. The tour included Knobbe’s first apartment in Long Beach, several bars the band frequented (both good and bad!), and even a gas station where Johnson used to buy cigarettes. We also spent a lot of time discussing the Torrance 3 bus, which Johnson described as his “mental workspace” – he wrote and refined many songs, including “Constant Headache,” while commuting to and from practice in Long Beach.

Though Johnson moved to Long Beach at age twenty and feels settled there, he believes Torrance will always represent the core of what Joyce Manor is about.

He admits he doesn’t feel a strong connection to Torrance, though he appreciates certain aspects of the city. He believes it has significant issues and describes it as unsettling and strange.

Like Johnson, Knobbe had complicated feelings about Torrance, and he relocated to Long Beach shortly after. He even recalls his first freeway drive was taking Johnson back to Long Beach. Ebert, however, has always been seen as an outsider, living in East L.A. and with family ties to San Pedro. When asked about moving to Los Angeles, the band revealed they preferred visiting the more established pop-punk communities in Riverside.

According to Knobbe, his high school band attempted to perform at the Whisky a Go Go, but they discovered it involved paying to play – essentially, they had to pay for the opportunity to perform.

We finished our visit with Modelo beers at the V Room, jokingly calling them ‘a few small beers.’ While Johnson explained the album’s featured bar is actually inspired by several places we visited, the V Room has quickly become a favorite spot.

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Johnson recalls being very short on money and frequently going to Fern’s – now called the Hideout – for their dollar beer night. It attracted a lot of college students who were also on a tight budget, and that’s where he met many people, some of whom are still his friends today.

Knowing the new album is a tribute to Brian Wilson, who was raised in the nearby city of Hawthorne, I started thinking about what connections Joyce Manor and Wilson might have—or how growing up in the South Bay area influenced them both.

According to Ebert, the South Bay area of Southern California is where many iconic aspects of American culture – like surfing and skateboarding – first took off in the 1950s and gained worldwide popularity. However, despite being the birthplace of this ‘Americana,’ the South Bay is also a surprisingly isolated and somewhat bleak suburban area. Surrounded by oil refineries and the massive Port of L.A., it’s a place that feels cut off from the rest of the city. Yet, it was within this unique environment that Brian – whoever that may be – was able to capture the essence of what became known as American culture.

Johnson notes the amusing contrast of murals celebrating iconic punk bands like the Descendents and Black Flag appearing in Hermosa Beach, which has become a costly place to live.

“It’s just a pretty heartless place and always has been,” says Ebert.

Joyce Manor’s music has always explored the contrast between the hopeful idea of the American dream and the often harsh realities of the economy, a theme that emerged when the band first formed during the Great Recession.

Johnson explains their work is heavily shaped by a sense of unease about the future. They feel financial stability is a thing of the past, and they themselves will likely never experience it. This has led to a philosophy of embracing joy and celebrating life while you can, because traditional sources of security are no longer reliable. Ultimately, they believe people need to actively create their own happiness.

The song “I Used to Go to This Bar” immediately connects with listeners. Its opening lines perfectly capture a sense of struggle: “When you can’t afford anything anymore, tell me how are you gonna swim to shore? When you can’t explain the damage done to your brain, but it’s clear that it’s severe and it’s here to stay.”

The album features a variety of sounds, from desert country reminiscent of The Smiths (“All My Friends Are So Depressed”) to an unusual but compelling blend of classical arrangements and synth-pop like The Cars (“Falling into It”). Fans can also expect the catchy pop-punk that Joyce Manor is known for. The song “Well, Don’t It Seem Like You’ve Been Here Before?” builds on an earlier, pre-Joyce Manor track, now featuring harmonica played by Knobbe. “Grey Guitar” could be considered their strongest album closer yet, potentially surpassing “Constant Headache.” Notably, the album features Joey Waronker on drums, who recently toured with Oasis, and includes contributions from musicians who have worked with Beck.

“If you’re around L.A. long enough, you get Beck’s guys,” joked Ebert.

Joyce Manor is heading out on a U.S. tour this spring, and they’re also playing at Coachella. Singer Johnson thinks their song “Constant Headache” will be a hit with the festival crowd. I then asked what other things the band wants to experience while in Los Angeles.

“Let’s play the Forum,” says Johnson.

You know, for years I’ve dreamed of playing a show in Torrance, our hometown. But honestly, I just couldn’t see it happening, so I’ve kind of let go of that idea now.

Roger Ebert’s comments brought to mind a line from the album’s main song: “It’s just an ordinary place, easily copied.” This captures the bittersweet feeling of being connected to your hometown, but also missing it. Joyce Manor perfectly expresses this emotion in a way that feels both universal and deeply personal. I think Harry Nilsson would have really liked it.

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2026-01-22 14:32