It’s hard to find an interesting angle to talk abut Jeff Rosenstock. While the name is non-descript, as soon as you press play on this track you know what you’re in for. He just kind of makes sense as an artist and seems to wear who he is on his sleeve. I don’t remember the first time I heard or saw him, but my brain just thought “oh of course, that guy.” Most songs I’ve heard from him kind of straddle that line where it captures a feeling of nostalgia for my ska/punk days in high school, but is still new and relevant to where I am now, all while feeling like a song I kind of already knew somehow.

I adore this track, and most of his music. No Dream is a pop-punk masterpiece in my mind, and the full album ska cover Ska Dream he released earlier this year is such a hilarious idea to me that was executed flawlessly.

I feel like this song kind of perfectly captures the Jeff Rosenstock experience. This is a man that has embraced a fully DIY ethos and dedicated his life to mastering the craft of composing and performing fun pop-punk songs, at the expense of his relationships, finances, and mental and physical health, and here he gets to talk about it in the medium he’s most comfortable and proficient.

My Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Last Time I Heard it: Last week I was talking to a friend about some of my favorite punk/pop-punk/surf/skate/garage acts in recent years with Jeff being one of my biggest recommendations (alongside PUP, Mike Krol, Wavves, FIDLAR, etc.) and since then have been pretty consistently listening to a Spotify playlist I randomly threw together with a lot of those guys and more. Not sure when this specific song would’ve been played, but definitely in the last week or so.