Although Four Year Strong has endured a number of personnel shifts since their 2001 formation in Worchester, Mass., vocalists/guitarists Alan Day and Dan O’Connor and drummer Jackson Massucco are founding members, and bassist Joe Weiss has been a part of FYS’s Pop/Punk/Hardcore caravan since 2004. Keyboardist Josh Lyford joined a couple of years later, but was jettisoned in 2011 when the band changed sonic direction by eliminating synthesizers. In fact, most of the turnover in FYS has been due to creative alterations in the band’s musical approach, with three other keyboardists, three vocalists, two bassists, a guitarist and a percussionist claiming a role in the band’s sound in their early days.
After early demos and EPs, Four Year Strong released their debut full-length, It’s Our Time, early in 2005, but it was 2007’s Rise or Die Trying that tickled the Top 30 of Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, increased the band’s fan base exponentially and earned it a contract with Universal Records imprint Decaydance. After a pair of successful albums — 2009’s Explains It All and 2010’s covers set, Enemy of the World — FYS released 2011’s blistering In Some Way, Shape or Form, which also proved to be its swan song for Decaydance.
With vocalist/guitarist Day’s concentration on his Blues side project The Here and Now and Lyford’s ejection, the rumor mill began speculating about Four Year Strong’s demise in 2013, which was further fueled by the certified road warriors’ absence on the touring circuit. The band came roaring back in 2014, releasing the Go Down in History EP, opening for Bayside’s tour, playing the entire Warped Tour and signing with the Pure Noise label. In 2015, the band released its self-titled sixth album, its first set of new material in four years, and continued a relentless road pace.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Rise or Die Trying, which Four Year Strong has already celebrated with a headlining European tour, a victory lap that continues in the States. As an adjunct to the American circuit, FYS just released Some of You Will Like This, Some of You Won’t, an extensive collection featuring acoustic classics, unreleased rarities and reworked favorites.
Need another example of the strength of Four Year Strong? The band’s first single from Enemy of the World was titled after a snarky line from an Alternative Press review of Set Your Goals — “It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now.” And it most certainly does not.
Abandon Ship or Abandon All Hope by Four Year Strong on VEVO.
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