Broadway Calls

Meet Me on The Moon [7-inch] (2020)

Eric Rosso

It has been nearly 8 years since we’ve heard recorded output from Portland punk rockers Broadway Calls. Last we left our upper left coast friends, they carried a small and loyal following playing pretty standard pop-punk spread out across their 3 LPs opening for your favorite bands and on stages at your favorite fests. Not a bad place to be for any pop-punk band. That’s why as Broadway Calls dip their collective toe back into the scene with the release of Meet Me on The Moon, the release carries both expectations of fans who’ve waited 8 years and an introduction to the recently converted punks in the 2010s who may not have been turned onto them previously.

As a reintroduction 7-inch, Meet Me on The Moon succeeds on both those ends. New track and 7-inch titled “Meet Me on The Moon” is a nervy pop-punk song that hits all the right notes. The song sounds seem to both call back to the sound of Apathy and Exhaustion and the underlining acoustics and grown up restraint The Menzingers began exploring on their series of 7-inches between their last two LP releases. This can be a lazy description for any punk band, but makes sense in the context of a band like Broadway Calls that share history with them. The song details out scenes from a bottle of wine shared in a park at midnight.

For longtime fans, Broadway Calls throwback to the opener of their debut release for the second track. More than basking in nostalgia, the reimagined song offers up a new interpretation as the release which came amidst the current global pandemic stifling some preemptive touring meant to announce the band’s return. “Call It Off” is not just an acoustic version of the song, but offers fans a take that gives it more bedroom demo or campfire sing along feel. Reimagined anew, when the band sings, “We hit the switch and / Call off all executions / Call off all celebrations / This is the last song written,” the song takes on new meaning on this particular take.

If this 7-inch’s purpose was to get fans excited about a new full length later this year, Broadway Calls have done exactly that. As a casual listener, said record is now on my must check out list if the new track is any indication.