California-based indie duo This Wild Life shed their initial full-band ambitions, successfully retooling their emo/pop-punk style into an acoustic format in 2014 with their Epitaph debut, Clouded. From their beginning as D.I.Y. up-and-comers to label-supported hard-touring festival attraction, co-singer/songwriters Kevin Jordan and Anthony Del Grosso have consistently shown a interest in creative expansion and evolution, moving from electric phase to stripped-down acoustic, and later to a mix that included orchestral ambitions. After working together at a local music store, Jordan and Del Grosso bonded over the hardcore, punk, and screamo bands they loved as teenagers. They assembled the first version of This Wild Life in 2011 as an electric guitar-led quartet playing in an upbeat, familiar pop-punk style. After finding some modest local success, Jordan and Del Grosso decided to take a different approach to their music. Inspired by the passionate acoustic emo of Dashboard Confessional’s Swiss Army Romance album, they recast themselves as a duo armed with two acoustic guitars and their strong harmonies. Feeling more inspired than ever, they continued to write in the melodic pop-punk milieu, but sharpened their focus on tight, succinct songwriting that spent less time hiding behind a heavy wall of sound. Their second release, 2012’s Heart Flip, partially reflected this sea change with a mix of full-band tracks alongside the new stripped-down acoustic songs. They found that it was actually the acoustic songs that received the biggest responses both in the punk community and beyond. They shifted completely into an acoustic act, touring and building a hearty grassroots following and eventually inking a deal with legendary punk label Epitaph. For their full-length debut, Clouded, they worked with producer Aaron Marsh of the band Copeland, fleshing out their nimble acoustic tunes with additional harmonies, strings, and various other organic adornments. Following the album’s June 2014 release, they hit the road as part of the Vans Warped Tour, playing alongside heroes like Yellowcard and the Story So Far. Working again with Aaron Marsh, This Wild Life recorded their follow-up, Low Tides, which was released by Epitaph in Autumn 2016 and featured slightly heavier arrangements than their debut. Heading into sessions for their third album, Jordan and Del Grosso mutually decided to take a brighter, more upbeat approach to their writing. The resulting album, 2018’s Petaluma, explored a lighter tone with hopeful themes.

A melodic and introspective pop-punk combo from Albany, New York, Young Culture revolves around the creative team of singer Alex Magnan and guitarist Gabe Pietrafesa. A series of well-received independent releases including an exploratory 2017 mixtape — billed simply as YC — showed a band interested cross-pollinating various genres and soon led to a label deal with Equal Vision , which issued their 2019 EP, (This Is) Heaven.

Friends and occasional bandmates since their middle school days, Magnan and Pietrafesa began releasing music as Young Culture in 2016 starting with the eight-song mini-album You. Working loosely under the pop-punk umbrella, but also demonstrating an acumen for a more varied pop sound, the duo tested their boundaries later that year by releasing a smooth, beat-driven R&B and hip-hop-influenced mixtape under the banner YC. After testing the waters of what Young Culture could incorporate, they returned to their guitar-based pop-punk style with a new perspective for 2017’s Blue EP and over the next year began touring as a four-piece with the addition of new members Troy Burchett and Nick Cavin. The band signed with Equal Vision Records in 2018 and released their label debut, the (This Is) Heaven EP, early the following year.