Magnolia Park

It’s no secret that Epitaph Records has been the breeding ground for some of the most legendary punk acts in existence and Magnolia Park carry on in that tradition with their highly anticipated debut full-length, Baku’s Revenge. Since forming in Orlando, Florida, in 2019, the six-piece act—vocalist Joshua Roberts, guitarists Tristan Torres and Freddie Criales, bassist Jared Kay, drummer Joe Horsham and keyboardist Vincent Ernst—have released an EP, mixtape and handful of singles and toured with everyone from Sum 41 to Simple Plan as a way to bring their upbeat brand of pop-punk to the masses. While Magnolia Park’s music is at times lighthearted, the ethnically diverse act are also serious about spreading a message of inclusivity and inspiring other kids like them to start bands as a form of creative expression. “Our goal when we’re together is to make sure the next generation doesn’t have to face as much racial backlash for being a rock band,” Torres explains. “In the industry, people look at us a certain way and try to impose things on us—and we want to make sure the next generation of rock bands don’t have to go through what we’ve been through.”     The band channeled that energy into Baku’s Revenge, an album that picks up the narrative of the Magnolia Park’s fictional protagonist Baku, who fans may recognize from the band’s previous music videos. Speaking of the past, while 2022’s Heart Eater EP was recorded in a week, the band had much more time to finetune the songs for Baku’s Revenge—and it’s clear all of the time they’ve spent on the road over the past year has helped them further develop their sound, which combines elements of punk, pop and hip-hop.” In fact within the span of a month the band wrote 30 songs for Baku’s Revenge before fleshing them out with Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, Wage War), who has been a supporter of Magnolia Park from their inception. “Andrew took us in really early on and helped us grow and develop our sound,” Torres recalls. “He didn’t have to work with us. We just happened to live in Orlando and we messaged Andrew and alongside Andy Karpovck they worked with us and really helped us hone in this modern pop-punk sound. So a lot of credit goes to them as far as helping us trim the fat and think about what we’re trying to say with these songs.”     This attention to detail is evident on Baku’s Revenge, whether the band are singing about the dangers of addiction over a infectious melody (“Drugs”), lamenting the demise of a relationship over a sing-along chorus (“Ghost”) or illuminating the way depression can creep into difficult situations (“I should’ve listened to my friends”) in a way that’s relatable, even if the listener hasn’t had the same experiences as the band members. “Some people want to listen to our music for a fun getaway and other people want to listen for the more serious topics in the song,” Kay explains. “I think when they listen to the messages in our songs and see the videos, they see that we’re more than a playful pop-punk band. We can have a good time and be silly, but we also show that there’s some serious real-world problems that are going on in the world that we want to address and expose.” An example of this is the song “Paralyzed,” which addresses the band’s own run-ins with institutional racism and over swirling synths and an unforgettable hook in an honest way that will hopefully foster further dialogue about these systemic issues.     In other words, when  Roberts sings, “I want to feel something” on the opener “Feel Something,” it isn’t posturing—the band are creating a shared experience with their fans and prove that outcasts and underdogs who have to choose between gas and food can still have a voice in today’s increasingly polarized society. Admittedly Baku’s Revenge is teeming with catchy melodies, massive guitar hooks and cutting-edge production, but its biggest strength is the band members’ lived experiences, which are present in every second of the 24 minutes that make up the album. In that spirit, we suggest you stop reading this bio and turn on (and turn up) this collection of songs, which are as thought-provoking as they are accessible and mark a bold new chapter for one of today’s most exciting pop-punk bands.