A Day to Remember

A Day to Remember are living proof that a band can have both pop-punk and metalcore as major sonic influences—and not just on the same album but within the same song. Bone-crushing anthems such as 2009’s “I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?” (from their breakthrough LP Homesick) and 2016’s “Paranoia” veer between pogoing rhythms and melodic singing with pulverizing blast beats and gruff, unclean vocals. The group navigate these extremes so skillfully because of their experience—vocalist Jeremy McKinnon, guitarist Neil Westfall, and bassist Joshua Woodard all paid their dues in other bands before teaming up in A Day to Remember in 2003—and because they formed in Florida, a state known as a hotbed of both genre-smashing punk and buoyant pop-punk. Their willingness to combine disparate sounds often pushes them into intriguing and unexpected territory. Albums such as Homesick and 2013’s Common Courtesy include sober, acoustic-driven numbers (“If It Means a Lot to You,” “I’m Already Gone”), while 2019 brought “Rescue Me,” a collaboration with superstar DJ/producer Marshmello that highlighted McKinnon's soulful, passionate vocals. And after signing a record deal with Fueled By Ramen that same year, A Day to Remember leaned heavily into hard-rock-tinged emo pop on the singles “Degenerates” and “Mindreader.”