— by Brandee J. Tecson, with reporting by Matt Paco
There's nothing like unabashed boredom to stimulate the senses and inspire musical greatness.
That's exactly what the four lads of Just Surrender, a pop-punk New York-based quartet reminiscent of Fall Out Boy infused with My Chemical Romance, relied on to sever the monotony of living smack-dab in the middle of Podunk, U.S.A.
"[Dover, in upstate New York near the Connecticut border] is a really desolate area, so music became our outlet to get away from doing nothing," said guitarist and co-vocalist Dan Simons, who, at 23, trumps his band mates in age by a good four years.
Just Surrender (originally dubbed A Second Chance until a trademark search forced the guys to rename) was the brainchild of high school buddies Andy Meunier, Jason Maffucci and Steve Miller, now all 19, who got their first break playing at a friend's party. As the trio began gaining some steam, they recruited Simons and began playing venues in upstate New York.
Eventually, the fellas managed to scrounge up enough cash to cut a four-track EP with producer John Naclerio (Brand New, My Chemical Romance). The newly minted tunes were posted on purevolume.com. Days later, Just Surrender debuted at #1 on the site, and within a matter of months, the band had scored nearly half a million downloads and boasted legions of loyal new fans — one, literally, who was pushed to the extreme.
"We had a CD-release show in Poughkeepsie [New York, not far from Dover] a couple weeks ago, and this girl kept flashing dirty looks to my ex-girlfriend all night," said Meunier, the band's guitarist. "Then she ended up, like, balls-out screaming at me, saying 'If your ex doesn't leave, I'm gonna beat her up!' That was the first time a girl has ever yelled at me."
That seems a scenario more likely for a lead singer — of which Just Surrender has two. "We feed off of each other," said Simons, who shares vocals with bassist Maffucci.
Their tag-team approach is in full effect on the band's debut full-length, If These Streets Could Talk, which landed in July. Just Surrender again relied on the talents of Naclerio to help them churn out emo-tinged punk tracks like "Our Work of Art," "Tell Me Everything" and one of their heavier tunes, "She Broke My Heart, So I Broke His Jaw," inspired by Maffucci's own personal heartbreak.
The bandmembers are taking an arguably more mature view toward their career. "A lot of times, growing up, society says, 'Go to college. Get married. Have a family,' " Simons said. "But every time we play a show and people sing along, it's more reason not to do that."
"[I don't want to have] any regrets," Maffucci added. "I don't want to look back and be like, 'Man, I wish I had done this' or 'I wish I had said this.' I want to do everything. [I just want us] to take over the world."
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