Chicago's Knuckle Puck — vocalist Joe Taylor, guitarist/vocalist Nick Casasanto, guitarist Kevin Maida, drummer John Siorek, and bassist Ryan Rumchaks — will release their third full-length album 20/20 on September 18 through Rise Records. The band just shared the music video for their new song "Breathe," featuring Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade. The album also includes the previously released song "RSVP" and their cathertic yet upbeat track "Tune You Out".
"I find myself dwelling on things when they go wrong," says Casasanto. "Maybe something happened that was beyond my control or I said something that I later regretted. When these thoughts enter my mind, they takeover and it's hard to breathe, putting me into an almost dissociative state. It wasn’t until I discovered mindfulness that I started to regain control, telling myself to take a deep breath and purge the negative thoughts."
He continues, "Life is going to constantly challenge you, but the only thing that truly matters is your mindset while weathering the storm. In these strange, infuriating and often scary times, remember to stay positive and breathe. Cool heads always prevail."
20/20 was produced by Seth Henderson (State Champs, Real Friends) and mixed by Vince Ratti (The Wonder Years, Title Fight, The Menzingers) and is in many ways a companion piece to Knuckle Puck's 2015 debut Copacetic — filtering the same youthful, wide-eyed approach of their early material through the sonic evolutions they've explored since. All at once, 20/20 is both a look back and a step forward — and most importantly, it's an album that, at its core, urges listeners to live in the here and now.
"Not every song has to be an existential journey," Casasanto says. "We went into this album wanting to make people feel good about who they are and not upset about who they aren't. There's so much to be angry about right now, and rather than contribute to it, we wanted to give people a reason to feel good. I want people to want to listen to this record."
