{"id":5907,"date":"2025-10-13T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/yellowcards-best-days-are-happening-right-now\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T14:00:00","slug":"yellowcards-best-days-are-happening-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/yellowcards-best-days-are-happening-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellowcard\u2019s Best Days are Happening Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/lead0100-Yellowcard-Australia-Promo-2025-04-02-Joe-Brady.jpg\" width=\"\" height=\"\" alt=\"Yellowcard. (Credit: Joe Brady)\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\u201cIt\u2019s so rad to be on this wave again,\u201d says Yellowcard frontman Ryan Key. <\/strong>\u201cWhat are the odds of catching this wave twice in your life, 20 years apart?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Around this time two decades ago, Key\u2019s band was riding high on the platinum sales of 2003\u2019s <em>Ocean Avenue<\/em> and the Top 40 crossover success of its title track (one of the 50 best alt-rock love songs of all time, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/02\/the-50-best-alt-rock-love-songs\/\">SPIN<\/a>), living their teenage dreams of headlining the Vans Warped Tour. And since reuniting in 2022, Yellowcard has been on another upswing. \u201cWe\u2019re playing the biggest shows we\u2019ve ever played in our career for three years in a row now,\u201d says Key. \u201cBy a long shot, too, these shows are two, three times bigger than at the height of our career in the Capitol Records \u2018Ocean Avenue\u2019 era.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/acl-fest-recap\/\">ACL Fest Showcases 2010s Indie Favorites<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/producer-mike-dean-on-making-music-that-stands-the-test-of-time\/\">Producer Mike Dean on Making Music That Stands the Test of Time<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/the-waterboys-mike-scott-is-a-completist-not-an-obsessive-he-swears\/\">The Waterboys\u2019 Mike Scott Is a Completist, Not an Obsessive (He Swears)<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty amazing, we definitely are feeling the love,\u201d agrees violinist Sean Mackin, while noting that Yellowcard had a harder time drumming up interest for their albums and shows before they disbanded in 2017. \u201cI, personally, have some scar tissue from feeling like nothing was good enough. We were trying hard and it was almost like we were in quicksand. The harder you struggle, the worse it would get.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a sign of how well things are going now that when I call Key and Mackin on an off night between shows, they\u2019re about to go see Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan in the same Indiana amphitheater they\u2019ll be headlining 24 hours later. \u201cWe aren\u2019t supposed to be here. Like, we just truly believed we were finished in 2017,\u201d Keys.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2024-11-22-Yellowcard-UK-EU-Tour-4422-Joe-Brady-2.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Joe Brady)\" class=\"wp-image-474553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2024-11-22-Yellowcard-UK-EU-Tour-4422-Joe-Brady-2.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2024-11-22-Yellowcard-UK-EU-Tour-4422-Joe-Brady-2-340x227.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2024-11-22-Yellowcard-UK-EU-Tour-4422-Joe-Brady-2-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2024-11-22-Yellowcard-UK-EU-Tour-4422-Joe-Brady-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2024-11-22-Yellowcard-UK-EU-Tour-4422-Joe-Brady-2-498x332.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Joe Brady)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Warped Tour itself also called it a day soon after Yellowcard, with a final tour in 2018. But with a rising tide of enthusiasm for pop punk, both are back in 2025, and Yellowcard will be at the Warped Tour\u2019s Orlando edition in November, the band\u2019s eighth year with the festival. They also appeared at the When We Were Young Festival in 2023, the epicenter of this recent surge of nostalgia for Y2K punk and emo bands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The remarkable thing about Yellowcard\u2019s comeback, though, is that they\u2019re not just playing the old hits but building on their legacy with some of the best music of their career. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since we\u2019ve felt this much enthusiasm and excitement around new music from us,\u201d Key says. \u201cThe way people seem to be reacting to these new songs, it\u2019s special.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yellowcard\u2019s 11th album <em>Better Days<\/em>, out on Better Noise Music October 10, was preceded by the title track and lead single, which became Yellowcard\u2019s first No. 1 Alternative Airplay hit in August. The band\u2019s slow, steady climb to that summit was a record for the <em>Billboard<\/em> chart, as the trade publication <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/chart-beat\/yellowcard-better-days-new-record-alternative-airplay-chart-1236050046\/\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a>: \u201cThe nearly 22-year gap between a first entry and first ruler is the longest in the chart\u2019s 37-year history.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Of course, Yellowcard isn\u2019t the only seasoned Warped Tour band that\u2019s topped the alt-rock radio charts in the last few years, joining other late-career hits by Sum 41, All Time Low, and \u201990s warhorses Green Day and Blink-182. In fact, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has cemented his role as the busiest man in the pop punk universe, if not all of rock music, by becoming a part of the Yellowcard team for <em>Better Days<\/em>. Barker co-produced the album alongside Andrew Goldstein and Nick Long in his Calabasas studio, the Waiting Room, and played drums on every song.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-09.16-Charlotte-NC-1196-Joe-Brady.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Joe Brady)\" class=\"wp-image-481554\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-09.16-Charlotte-NC-1196-Joe-Brady.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-09.16-Charlotte-NC-1196-Joe-Brady-340x227.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-09.16-Charlotte-NC-1196-Joe-Brady-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-09.16-Charlotte-NC-1196-Joe-Brady-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-09.16-Charlotte-NC-1196-Joe-Brady-498x332.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Joe Brady)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cJust to have Travis at the helm and watching a guy like Travis Barker play drums for your band is so inspiring,\u201d Mackin says. \u201cIt was great to have him as a guide and as a brother to try and make the best Yellowcard songs we could.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes the world has a wild way of putting things into place,\u201d Barker told SPIN in an email. \u201cNeither of us had planned on working together, but once we got in the studio, the magic was undeniable. I had just finished the Blink album and was excited to dive into producing another record front to back. Working with Yellowcard was a pleasure, and seeing them land their first number one is incredible. I couldn\u2019t be happier for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mackin is the only person who\u2019s been a member of Yellowcard through every iteration of the band since it was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997. The band\u2019s first two albums featured original frontman Ben Dobson before Key became the band\u2019s lead singer, and his tuneful voice and Mackin\u2019s violin have remained the most recognizable features of the Yellowcard sound ever since. Mackin even has his own terminology for the band\u2019s unique blend of instruments: \u201cThe \u2018guitarmony\u2019 between the guitar and the violin is pretty awesome, we can do a lot of things that not a lot of other bands get to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Better Days<\/em> is by far Yellowcard\u2019s most collaborative album to date\u2014all three producers contributed to the songwriting, as did members of Alkaline Trio, Goldfinger, and, surprisingly, Wolf Eyes. One reason for that is that Key, whose voice still sounds as effervescent and youthful as it did in 2003, had lost some confidence in his ability to write for the band. \u201cI\u2019m just in a different place, musically, the music I listen to, the music I write and record outside of Yellowcard, it\u2019s just pretty far removed from what we were doing 20 years ago when we found that sound,\u201d he says. \u201cI was just really open to the idea of having someone come in and kickstart the process. And once that started, the floodgates just opened, I wrote two or three songs at home that I demoed just start to finish and brought back to the band.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-08-30-I-Wanna-Be-Tour-Sao-Paulo-1916-Joe-Brady.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Joe Brady)\" class=\"wp-image-481555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-08-30-I-Wanna-Be-Tour-Sao-Paulo-1916-Joe-Brady.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-08-30-I-Wanna-Be-Tour-Sao-Paulo-1916-Joe-Brady-340x227.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-08-30-I-Wanna-Be-Tour-Sao-Paulo-1916-Joe-Brady-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-08-30-I-Wanna-Be-Tour-Sao-Paulo-1916-Joe-Brady-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/2025-08-30-I-Wanna-Be-Tour-Sao-Paulo-1916-Joe-Brady-498x332.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Joe Brady)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Goldstein helped provide the spark for \u201cBedroom Posters,\u201d an album standout that may be Yellowcard\u2019s next radio single. \u201cAndrew was just noodling around in the studio before we got there that day, and we heard him playing that riff that you hear at the very top of the song, and we all were like, \u2018Man, does that sound like a Yellowcard song,\u2019\u201d Key says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been playing it live for about a month now, and words can\u2019t even express how intense it is, man. When you get to the chorus and the crowd is singing those big background \u2018whoa\u2019s, it just makes your hair stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last December, Yellowcard were getting close to wrapping up <em>Better Days<\/em> when Barker unexpectedly delivered a cameo from another pop punk icon, Avril Lavigne, for the ballad \u201cYou Broke Me Too.\u201d \u201cI was like, \u2018Hey, I really just am getting big Avril vibes, I\u2019m gonna have the violin and the strings kinda mimic a template that she\u2019s already laid out,\u2019\u201d Mackin remembers. \u201cAnd Travis looked over and he goes, \u2018Do you think Avril should sing on the song?\u2019 So Travis just made the call and sent us a little Christmas present. My wife punched me in the chest and said, \u2018Is that really Avril Lavigne on a Yellowcard song?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yellowcard\u2019s lean years have made all the triumphs of 2025 that much more special for Key and Mackin, and they\u2019re determined to savor this moment and deliver something special for their audience. \u201cWe are awash in social media and instant gratification and that really has, I think, unfortunately found its way into music, forcing a lot of music to be \u2018content\u2019 instead of creativity,\u201d Key says. \u201cAnd I think our generation of bands maintains writing music for ourselves and our fans, and that goes a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so rad to be on this wave again,\u201d says Yellowcard frontman Ryan Key. \u201cWhat are the odds of catching this wave twice in your life, 20 years apart?\u201d\u00a0 Around&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,24,4105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-pushly","category-yellowcard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}