Monday Mixtape: Barry Johnson of Joyce Manor
Oneohtrix Point Never, Cock Sparrer, Depeche Mode, and more
Monday Mixtape is another path towards music discovery, featuring people whose taste I admire answering a series of questions and prompts with songs (which might change from time to time).
Barry Johnson is the frontman of Joyce Manor, one of my favorite bands who also happens to hail from my hometown of Torrance, CA, something I am medically incapable of shutting up about. (The city’s other claims to fame include that Beverly Hills, 90210 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were both filmed at Torrance High, that the first ever Runaways show took place in a guy’s house in Torrance, and that Natasha Lyonne’s character in The Slums of Beverly Hills would have rather died than have moved there).
Their latest album I Used To Go To This Bar is the exact collection of songs you’d want from a band you love that is over fifteen years into the game: it’s still extremely Joyce Manor but it’s also something new. There are songs that feel like elevated extensions of their earlier work, there are songs that traverse new terrain (and sound like The Cars got involved), and there is one song that is probably my favorite of the year (calling it in February is bold but so am I).
Barry is an incredible lyricist who creates these gorgeous little short story vignettes in his songs (Epitaph label head and Bad Religion icon Brett Gurewitz has likened him to a punk Hemingway), a fellow practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (lfg), and a guy with great taste in music. He is also actually from Lomita (nobody’s perfect). Here is his Monday Mixtape:
Barry Johnson Libra sun, Libra moon, Libra rising Long Beach, CA
How do you find/discover new music?
Usually friends and I will text each other stuff we think the other person will like. I do keep up with what bands are getting hyped in the usual places and I try to listen with an open mind. I also occasionally listen to the radio in the car. Sometimes YouTube or Spotify will go rogue and throw me something kinda cool.
What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?
Oneohtrix Point Never - “Chrome Country”
What song have you listened to more than once this past week?
Cock Sparrer - “Because You’re Young”
What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - “1/500”
A song off your workout playlist:
Propaghandi - “Back to the Motor League”
What is a song that helps you believe in yourself?
Bouncing Souls - “True Believers”
What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?
Depeche Mode - “Enjoy the Silence” (ed note: IKTFR)
Song you associate with being 13 years old:
TLC - “No Scrubs”
What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?
Screeching Weasel - “Hey Suburbia”
What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?
Low - “The Plan”
What song do you use to renew your spirit?
Desmond Dekker - “You Can Get It If You Really Want”
What is your favorite cover song?
Dawn Chorus - “I’m Goin Down”
What song would you like to hear just before you die?
Journey - “Don’t Stop Believin’”
All the songs on Barry’s Monday Mixtape can be found here
“There are songs that feel like elevated extensions of their earlier work, there are songs that traverse new terrain”
I love that balance — honoring where they’ve been while daring to wander somewhere new. It feels like growth without forgetting your own roots.
fucking journey lol