Pop-punk band Never Try releases debut album on Blind Bob’s

Performances from hip-hop group TINO and indie rock group Sadbox will complete the eclectic multi-genre bill.

Never Try is Moriah Yux (guitar), Jamie Ertley (drums), Phil Doncaster (bass) and Jeff Rudolf (guitar): a hodgepodge of music veterans (the band’s words) who decided to try something new; that is, revisiting a bygone sound through a nostalgic lens for fun.

“I think we’re just at the age where we just love doing it,” Yux said. “So as long as you don’t get beat up and go home, it’s a good show.”

“Takes the Cake” – recorded by Brian Whitten at Room 33 Recording Studio in early 2024 – will be released less than a year after the band’s first performance last August, and only a year and a half after the band began rehearsing in the basements. But despite Never Try’s debut, the album plays like a band that’s been around for years: a usual characteristic of a group of seasoned and prolific musicians.

Rudolf and Doncaster – who currently form the basis of the songs – came to the project independently with catalogs of unused material and an affinity for pop-punk. Yux came in capable of writing catchy, crunchy guitar choruses at a moment’s notice, while Ertley’s ska obsession drove the band’s stamina behind the kit (see: track 11 “Long After They’re Gone” for this influence).

It’s a hodgepodge that works, offering the classic sounds while offering something different as well.

Never Try released their debut single “EVERYBODY!” with a cameo-filled music video on May 10. Written by Rudolf’s daughter Josie, the song lists a bunch of things for you, me and everyone: happiness, pizza, no hate, strawberries and love. There’s something idealistic about the juxtaposition of “no hate” and “strawberries” via fast-paced punk music that makes Never Try playful, danceable and thoughtful.

The group also released a second single, “Song on 7”, on June 5.

“Takes the Cake” starts strong with “I Want a Nintendo!” ” taking the listener back to 1999, when the “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” soundtrack informed an entire generation of musical tastes. “I want a Nintendo!” could fit comfortably, in retrospect, between Goldfinger’s “Superman” and Primus’ “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” and no one would ollie any different.

There are two songs on the record with exclamation points, but the exclamations on the other nine tracks are implied.

The youthful aura of “Takes the Cake” is propelled to the forefront by this opening track, aided by Yux’s killer thematic riff on Super Mario Bros. – just recognizable and truncated enough to hopefully avoid litigation.

This youthful feeling continues throughout the 11 tracks, from “Gren” (the shoulda-coulda-woulda love song) to “Echo in the Bowl” (a 45-second potty training ditty) through “You Belong With Me” (a Taylor Couverture Swift song).

But perhaps the best representation of the band – and the idea of ​​pop-punk in general – is the third track, “That Dream.” Friends graduate, find jobs and new families, then forget to call. The narrator wonders where the time has gone and why he can’t just go swimming.

“I hadn’t been in a band for about seven years…the other one kind of died and then I had a kid,” Rudolf said. “And then, for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to do it again.” And yeah, it’s really busy, but (Josie) can go to the shows.

Never Try pushes timeless ideas through a sound from a particular era, and it proves that pop-punk is still relevant after all these years – or at least that things come back around sometimes.

“Now people are getting to an age where they have kids getting into it as well,” Yux said. “So I think it’s that second-generation nostalgia. For example, you are part of a group that your parents were in, and then you can experience it together.

Even though pop-punk isn’t huge on a grand scale anymore, you can still look forward to 4 a.m. dance parties, paper tours, and a Nintendo with Never Try’s debut album.

Brandon Berry covers the local music scene for the Dayton Daily News. Contact him by email at brandonthomasberry@gmail.com.

More details

Never Try’s album release for their debut album, “Takes the Cake,” will take place June 22 at 8 p.m. at Blind Bob’s. Limited edition CDs will be available for purchase. TINO and Sadbox will also be on stage. $10 at the door. 21 years and over.