Chicago’s Much The Same are a classic mid-noughties band celebrated by the international skate-punk scene. Following a 13 year hiatus, but they joined the Lockjaw Crew to release their third album Everything Is Fine in 2019.
Much The Same were a staple in Chicago skate- and pop-punk from 1999, coming up with contemporaries Fall Out Boy and Plain White T’s. They chose their name through joking that they were a clone of the popular Fat Wreck bands.
Their first album Quitters Never Win was released in 2003 by Anti-Flag’s label, AF Records. That album launched Much The Same into tours with Rise Against, Against Me! and A Wilhelm Scream, shows with Bad Religion and Thrice, and even a revered slot on Warped Tour.
In 2006, Much The Same released Survive, which became their seminal release. It launched them into international fandom however, after feeling the strain of character clashes, Much The Same took a break in 2007.
The band reunited to perform a reunion show in 2011, with no intention to continue to write. Three years passed before they were ready to fully come back and begin on a new album. Punk rock welcomed them back with open arms and, after booking one show, it wasn’t long before they had been invited to Groezrock in Belgium and Off Limits in Mexico.
2019 sees Much The Same returning to form: releasing new album Everything Is Fine and pressing Survive on vinyl for the first time. The new album comes in the wake of guitarist Dan O’Gorman’s personal struggles with cancer and divorce; a trauma which inspired the band to rekindle their love of punk rock, against all odds. Everything Is Fine features 9 belting new tracks, combining more melodic hooks and darker lyrical subjects then the band have explored previously.
