Kevin Bronson on November 18th, 2014

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It’s easy to slap a big fat “emo” label on Modern Baseball, the Philadelphia-based band currently making waves in their college town. However, their sophomore album “You’re Gonna Miss It All” stretches further than one genre. There is a little bit of everything here, with hints of nerdy soft rock and pop punk, even folk at times, layered in with indie-rock undertones. Modern Baseball has worked its way from the ground up – Brendan Lukens and Jacob Ewald started the band as an acoustic duo, before joined by Sean Huber and Ian Farmer, and self-released their first EP “The Nameless Ranger” before they even graduated high school. Their full-length debut “Sports” in 2012 propelled them to prominence on the Philly scene, setting the stage for “You’re Gonna Miss It All,” which focuses on the typical worries of an early twentysomething. The sophomore release continues to explore angst-y, clever pop-punk, but also delves into the beautiful. The video for “Pothole,” directed by Kyle Thrash (who also did the band’s video for “Your Graduation”), combines tour footage and a lonely walk on a cold winter’s night to reveal a softer and prettier side to Modern Baseball, further evidence that they’ve developed and grown as a band since the initial release of “Sports.”

– Jessica Shalvoy

||| Stream: “Rock Bottom”

||| Live: Modern Baseball play the Roxy Theatre on Saturday.

||| Also: Watch the video for “Your Graduation”: