Stereo Six: Old Neon Highlight Some of Their Favourite Records

No matter what musical trends we’re immersed in, there’s always a place for a nice traditional emo ensemble like Old Neon. The band recently released their latest single, “Whatever Helps You Sleep at Night,” drawing on all that good pop-punk, Midwestern emo, and indie stuff. The band is starting to string together single releases with this song preceded by April’s “Empty Frames.” They have been consistently releasing music since their 2023 debut full-length Can’t Fucking Wait dropped.

Based in Pittsburgh, Old Neon has quickly established itself as one of the city’s best young rock bands. If you like hooks, you’ve arrived at the right place because they come aplenty with this quintet. With various influences, they don’t like to restrict their sound to a categorization. It’s best to think of them as just a pop band that makes fun music that’s hard not to like.

Joining us today are the members of Old Neon for a Stereo Six in which they offer up six defining records that helped shape their sound and style.

1. Four Year Strong – Rise or Die Trying (2007, I Surrender, Decaydance)

Zack Pollack: “I’m totally a self-taught drummer, and most everything I’ve learned comes from just learning songs to play along to. When I first started, I was playing mostly metal stuff, Slipknot, Lamb of God, August Burns Red, you get it. Eventually, I found myself no longer connecting with the format of most metal, though I still liked smashing, aggressive, and sometimes technical drum stuff.

“Four Year Strong’s Rise or Die Trying was my bridge to EZ-core/pop-punk where the drums can be aggressive and zany, and accompany melodic, catchy, dynamic songs. ‘Beatdown in the Key of Happy’ was the first song I had heard off of RODT, though I actually hated it at first listen. I learned a lot about drumming through learning Four Year Strong songs, including accidentally figuring out how time and counting work while learning ‘Wrecked ‘Em? Damn Near Killed ‘Em.’

“Basically, the band and the album are so important to me and my influence in Old Neon because they helped to form foundational skills and vocabulary I’m working with behind the kit, and what I’m trying to contribute to the songs we write.”

2. The Band Camino – Tryhard (2019, Elektra Records)

Mike McInnes: “My sense of the lead guitar’s role in a band like ours came from listening to the early New Found Glory records, and I’ve always enjoyed creating repetitive guitar ‘doodles’ that weave around the lead vocal. During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time listening to disco music, where the lead guitar is often conveying both melodic and rhythmic information at the same time. Nile Rodgers from Chic is the best at this. All the time I spent listening to and playing along with him has definitely factored into the parts I’ve written for us.

“A modern band that’s similarly influenced my approach to creating guitars for Old Neon is The Band Camino. The song ‘Hush Hush’ from Tryhard is a great example. It’s a funky repetitive guitar riff that carries the intro and instrumental interludes, a great rhythmic lead part during the chorus, topped off with a short guitar solo during the bridge.”

Artwork for the albums Old Neon lists in this Stereo Six

3. The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation (2013, Hopeless Records)

Sean Atkins: “One of the bands that kind of got me back into the scene after college was The Wonder Years. The Greatest Generation was such an elevated approach to songwriting compared to so many of the bands I’d been listening to prior. Even bands that are historically probably looked at with more reverence just can’t match tones and melodies all over every TWY album. It’s a huge reason I created our band, and one of the bands of that era, that really inspired me to pick up pop-punk and emo records again.

“I learned so much about music just by listening to the bands of the mid-2010s. It really made me want to be a part of that scene again. The second that the album begins, you’re just drawn into the story and sounds. Everything is really emotionally high-impact but melodically beautiful. (Guitarist) Bea has also used a lot of the Wonder Years tones as a jumping-off point in shaping their sound, which I think they’ve blended beautifully into what we do.”

4. Stand Atlantic – Pink Elephant (2020, Hopeless Records)

Drew Sipos: “This album feels like the natural evolution of pop-punk to me. You’ve got the aggressive and more organic sounds that we’re all familiar with married with modern bulletproof pop production. The writing and production are exciting and keep you on your toes. To me, it feels like there’s not a wasted second. Performances are all tight, the sounds are incredible, and if ever there was a perfect mix, you could find it on this album, in my opinion.

“For me, it raised the bar on what our music can sound like. A lot of my own writing process is centred around getting instrumental sounds that are pretty close to the final version before I can get lyrics. So, striving to do our version of what they did on Pink Elephant has made me a better writer overall. I find myself going back to Pink Elephant all the time, it scratches the deepest itch in my brain.”

5. Neck Deep – Life’s Not Out To Get You (2015, Hopeless Records)

Bea Langer: “My guitar playing is heavily inspired by pop punk bands of the 2010s. Life’s Not Out To Get You is one of my favourite albums to come out of this era. I love the way the rhythm guitar locks in with the kick drum at the beginning of the song ‘Gold Steps.’ The leads float on top while the rhythm drives the energy and feel. The main riff immediately draws you into the song. When you watch the band perform this live, it’s hard not to start jumping as soon as you hear it. I tried to capture the same energy when recording rhythm guitar for our new song ‘Empty Frames.’”

6. Fall Out Boy – Take This To Your Grave (2003, Fueled By Ramen)

Atkins: “The year I was put onto this album by my friends, I listened to it front to back, over and over. I think I listened to it for about two years straight and played very few other records in my collection. I would even buy albums and leave them sealed in the packaging because I just wasn’t ready to listen to anything else.

“It’s still an amazing go-to album, and the brilliant songwriting has held up beautifully over the years. There’s just something special about the songs and how they were mixed that sounds so good. It’s raw and urgent but sweet & accessible. It hits hard, and it’s the perfect album to roll the windows down and drive to!”

Old Neon “Whatever Helps You Sleep at Night” single artwork