“It’s been a day or years of me 
Thinkin’ bout you everyday
Sometimes for hours, sometimes in passing
Saw you from the bottom of the staircase
Stood out for hours as you complained
About how you haven’t seen your friends yet
That you’re too drunk to stand and
You not knowing if you can love him forever


Bullshit, you fucking miss me

There I said it 
I guess I’ll talk to you in a few months
Sitting drunk on the sidewalk
I guess I’ll get up
I guess I’ll go for a walk
Brushed my shoes against the pavement
I swear this has gotta be the hundredth time 
I thought of you tonight


You weren’t the only one
who thought of us that way
I spend most nights awake
Wide awake

I never thought that I
Oh I would see the day
Where I’d just let you go
Let you walk away
Where I let you walk away


Once you call
You crook, called you a bandit
There ain’t no other good damn reason why
Why I would even go missing
For so many months so I was wishing that you
That you would stop pretending
Remember all those countless nights
When I told you I loved you
And you’d never forget it
Oh just forget it

You weren’t the only one
who thought of us that way
I spend most nights awake
Wide awake
I never thought that I
Oh I would see the day
Where I’d just let you go
Let you walk away
Where I let you walk away.“

~Your Graduation 
Modern Baseball, You’re Gonna Miss It All

You never know what’s going to be worth a second listen. But after giving Modern Baseball’s “You’re Gonna Miss It All” a chance via streaming, I instantly knew I’d found part of my soundtrack to these cold, sad weeks of worn-out winter. 
This is an album filled to the brim with tired resentment, over it but self-aware enough not to take such heavy emotion too seriously. I’ve found it appropriately depressed, I’ve found it uplifting and invigorating, I’ve found it fit for wallowing without being a downer. (“Oh, why did I do that?/Why does everything collapse?/Even when it’s glued together.”) Overall it’s incredibly catchy, with occasional harmonies and bright licks. Pop hooks stand out in comfortable contrast with rather nasally lead vocals and tempo-shifting, fast-fingered guitars, showing strong emo influences while forging fresh identity.
The pace is breakneck, even if the songs are not: Tracks start and finish at a healthy clip. The longest song clocks in at 3:05 but the verses are so tight and the meter is so measured. And well-delivered lines that cut straight to heart of emotion are so memorable that there’s no time or need for excess with that kind of lucidity. (“Can we act like we never broke each others’ hearts?/At least mine, I don’t know how you felt from the start”)What makes this album memorable are those moments, unforgettable lines matched with fulfilling, satisfying chords, slow-downs, or key changes. 
While I love what I hear musically, I think the instant connection comes in the lyrics, which are equal parts heartsick and sarcastic. There’s plenty of frustration, fed-up youth and confusion – but there’s also a lot of sass and swagger, enough to pull off borderline kitschy references to Instagram and iPhones, setting scenes in streets and sleepless nights. Much about these songs feels conversational, but set against the powerful, playful and suspended notes and rhythms, they’re somehow mini-tropes, snapshots of love and loss and loser-dom in plain language.
Critically Modern Baseball has proven to be somewhat polarizing, in a love-or-hate, get-it-or-don’t kind of way. Most definitely a “band of the moment,” as far as the Internet seems concerned. But any pop punk band to cut through the Billboard Top 100 within a week or so of release must be doing something right, and this Philadelphia-based quartet has it on lock when it comes to the genre’s signature balance of energy, emotion and nostalgia…I’m glad I gave them a listen, I’m glad I’m on this bandwagon. Really bummed I was out of town when their tour came through Pittsburgh, but I’ll make it up for next time. Maybe in the spring. Until then I’ll fill an empty apartment with fresh songs to quell the same old feelings, grateful for new narratives to pass the time. 
“That’s why I need the silence
I need the empty streets
Just as bad as they don’t need me
It’s a sick, sad sham of a marriage
But it’s all there is
It’s all I need

I can be everything you need
If you make me
I can be every crack in your concrete
If you let me off easy
I can be easily deceived
If you want that
But you are the ember of my heart
Whether you like that or not.“
~Pothole

Modern Baseball, You’re Gonna Miss It All