Local band’s latest is a knockout punch

‘ ‘ ‘ Most bands would cringe at the thought of being categorized as pop-punk, visions of… ‘ ‘ ‘ Most bands would cringe at the thought of being categorized as pop-punk, visions of shrieking preteens and saccharine hooks dancing through their heads.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ But Punchline’s lead singer and guitarist Steve Soboslai isn’t phased. ‘ ‘We’ve always been defined as a pop-punk band, which I have no problem with,’ he said in an interview with The Pitt News.’ But when ‘Punchkids,’ as the band’s fans are lovingly known, pick up Punchline’s just-released fourth full-length album, Just Say Yes, they’ll see that the band has diverged a bit from its pop-punk roots.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Just Say Yes is the first release since Punchline, which is comprised of Soboslai, bassist Chris Fafalios, drummer P.J. Caruso and second guitarist Jon Belan, split from its record label, Fueled by Ramen. It released Just Say Yes on its own record label, Modern Short Stories, financed partially by $25,000 in prize money the band won from a Heavy.com contest.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It ran over four months. You could upload as many videos as you wanted, and whoever had the most plays won,’ said Soboslai. The band was determined to win, and by snagging 1.1 million views it was victorious. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I seriously think things would be a lot different if we hadn’t won that contest,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ The band is also planning to sign other artists to Modern Short Stories and is very excited to be announcing its first signee in the very near future ‘mdash; a singer/songwriter that Soboslai says has served as his ‘secret inspiration.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ While running its own label is a big step forward, why would a band leave its star-making label? After all, Fueled by Ramen launched both Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco, among others. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘People ask us that and think there’s a big story and animosity, but our contract was just up. They said if you guys want to keep doing it, we’ll keep doing it. It was time for us to do something different. It just seemed like a good idea and feasible for us to release it ourselves,’ said Soboslai.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ More eclectic than Punchline’s previous three albums, Soboslai said Just Say Yes ‘branched out a little bit’ with ‘songs that have more of a mood.’ He said his inspiration came from being home after a 10-week tour, when the band decided to take a break just to chill.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I sat down and recorded a bunch of songs that came out weird sounding.’ said Soboslai. He didn’t necessarily intend for them to be Punchline songs, but rather a creative outlet.’ As he puts it, he was ‘just writing songs to write songs … just being creative and really happy to be home.” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But when he brought them to the rest of the band, they all liked the new sound, which was ‘more all over the place,’ he said.’ With help from producers Jamie Woolford and Sean O’Keefe ‘mdash; who have worked with bands such as Hit the Lights, The Format, Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights and Plain White T’s ‘mdash; Just Say Yes was created.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The band, together since 1997, has been very successful locally, but when asked about its lack of mainstream national success, Soboslai is quick to respond. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘People associate success with being on MTV.’ That’s not the kind of success we want.’ We have really, really nice fans. On MTV all your fans are little kids. We want people to like our band because the music is inspiring and we write smart songs, not because our bass player is hot.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Expressing no regret, he adds, ‘That’s fine with me. I’m happy with how things have gone.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ And for good reason ‘mdash; Punchline has sold more than 100,000 albums worldwide, toured every major city in the United States and played in six foreign countries.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The band will play a CD release show at Diesel Club Lounge on Sept. 27 with local bands Derek White and the Monophobics, which Soboslai describes as a ‘modern day Beach Boys,’ and Your Life ‘amp; Mine. The local music scene has changed quite a bit since Punchline’s conception. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I remember when we first started, Pittsburgh was known as a street punk city with Anti-Flag and what they had going on. Pittsburgh is pretty indie rock now,’ said Soboslai. ‘ ‘ ‘ And after 10 years together, what keeps Punchline going?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Things always get better,’ said Soboslai. ‘People seem surprised that we’re still around. We’ve never had a reason to stop recording. It feels right.’