We Were Sharks Essentials

Ottawa quintet We Were Sharks wield a style of pop-punk that doubles down on both sides of the equation. Songs like “Bridge Burner” and “Without You”—from their 2015 breakthrough, Not a Chance—instantly get the mosh pit stirring with their turbo-charged riffs and double-timed stomps, but in frontman Randy Frobel, We Were Sharks possess an unerringly melodic, emo-tive mouthpiece who coasts above the fray like a crowd surfer who just won’t go down. And over the years, the band have shown there’s more to them than breakneck blitzes, with the grinding grooves of “Hotel Beds” harking back to the mid-’90s heyday of post-grunge alt-rock.