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I gotta say, the one thing that I love the most about my job is discovering new music by artists I have never heard and finding the occasional gem like Pittsburgh's The Middle Room, a band who's high energy pop-punk calls to mind some of my favorites from the genre like A New Found Glory, Four Year Strong, Set Your Goals, and Mayday Parade. They've got all the elements in spades, big gang vocals, huge sounding guitars and several almost-breakdowns that make you think they are about to break into a chugga-chugga hardcore riff right before they completely change time signatures and make you wanna pogo rather than windmill. Today, The Middle Room has released their debut EP Never Satisfied, featuring the single "Hold That Thought," along with a music video for the track that premiered with Alternative Press. The quartet's latest offering is a jagged mixture of early 2000's pop-punk and raw, close-to-home lyrics, reminiscent of your lonely emo days.

"We wrote the record at the end of last year and planned to track it in March, but Covid threw a wrench into things, so we just continued writing." says vocalist Johnny Dombeck. "After the first wave, our producer, Luke Oxendale, traveled up north from Tennesse and stayed with us in Pennsylvania to track the EP. We got really close during recording. We're pretty sure Luke is now with child."

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The video for "Hold That Thought" is filled to the brim with The Middle Room's over-the-top personality.

"Bright colored paint repping our colors, balloons, a dude on a motorcycle wearing a speedo, mannequin heads, colorful lights; it was our time to shine," says Dombeck. "We had a helpful crew of friends who helped keep balloons moving using a leafblower and pure manpower, two appearances from the police, and a craft beer festival down the road. It was almost like a crazy dream, the month seemed so surreal and the finished product is incredible when the budget is considered."

Speaking of budget, the EP is definitely not overproduced the way so much pop-punk is these days. There's a raw intensity to the songs that kind of remind the listener what a good old fashioned live show was like, way back in the early 2020s, pre-Covid. Bring those days back and bring these guys to Texas. I'll be there. In the meantime, we have added them to our newly created "Snap, Crackle, Pop-Punk" Spotify Playlist that you can hear HERE along with a bunch of other bands you might enjoy.