''The Simple Plan'' is an EP released independently in 2022 by August Is Falling, a

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

music project led by American singer-guitarist Pat Finnerty. All of the EP's tracks were written by Finnerty, who played guitar and sang lead vocals on the recording. Music producer

Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was lead guitarist for the glam metal band, SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s. From 1997 to 2001, he became th ...

mixed the EP's single, "August Is Falling". The EP also features appearances from

Eric Slick Eric James Marshall Slick (born May 15, 1987) is an American singer, songwriter and drummer. He is the drummer of Dr. Dog, performing on their albums '' Shame, Shame'' (2010), '' Be The Void'' (2012), '' B-Room'' (2013), '' The Psychedelic Swamp ...

and Toby Leaman of

Dr. Dog Dr. Dog is an American rock band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its lineup consists of Toby Leaman (bass), Scott McMicken (lead guitar), Frank McElroy (rhythm guitar), Zach Miller (keyboard), Eric Slick (drums), and Michael Libramento ( ...

and from Kim Whitehill.

Development and release

In mid 2022,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based musician and YouTube personality Pat Finnerty founded August Is Falling, a

-style music project. Finnerty wrote the songs and played guitars and sang vocals, on the band's ''The Simple Plan'' EP that was released independently on September 2, 2022. The EP featured Toby Leaman, Kim, and Butch Walker on tracks, as well an appearance by

on drums. Musical artist Harsh Symmetry appeared on the EP's cover. The EP's fifth song track, "August Is Falling", was mixed by acclaimed music producer

and released as a single. A lyrics video of the same track was produced by J. Gonzo. According to Finnerty, the title of the EP spoofs Canadian pop punk band

Simple Plan Simple Plan is a Canadian rock band formed in Montreal, Quebec, in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals, studio bass guitar), Chuck Comeau (drums), Jeff Stinco (lead guitar), and Sébastien Lefebvre (rhyt ...

. Lyrics of the songs on the EP take aim at the popular music industry,

internet culture Internet culture refers to culture developed and maintained among frequent and active users of the Internet (also known as netizens) who primarily communicate with one another as members of online communities; that is, a culture whose influence ...

, and the state of the emo movement. The EP both lampoons and plays homage to emo/pop-punk bands. The EP's independent release was backed by a grassroots movement to promote it on YouTube. The single, "August is Falling", garnered 140,000 views on YouTube in its first week after release with August is Falling trending as the Number 1 punk band on

BandCamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

and the EP being featured on Spotify's new pop punk playlist.

Critical reception

The band and EP received praise from The Darkness front man

Justin Hawkins Justin David Hawkins (born 17 March 1975) is an English musician, Internet personality, singer, and songwriter best known as the founder, lead singer, and lead guitarist of The Darkness, of which his younger brother Dan is also a member. He is ...

after its release. The website ''Craig's Music Review'' rated the EP 8 out of 10. Music critic Mark Rowland of ''Penny Black Music'' said the EP "sounds like it’s dumbing itself down somewhat to meet the expectations of the genre – to the point of parody in places – but at the same time, the songs are genuinely well constructed and catchy". Music commentator Allan Raible of

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ranked the EP #45 on his list of the top 50 albums of 2022. Raible said about ''The Simple Plan'' EP on the ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' website, "Weirdly, it is supposed to be a joke, but Finnerty is a great musician and songwriter, creating five songs that both lampoon the genre and pay fitting, pitch-perfect, wonderfully immature homage to bands like

Blink-182 Blink-182 is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Its current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though its so ...

. Armed with skill and heart, this EP is infinitely more than a sarcastic footnote." The video Finnerty debuted August is Falling and ''The Simple Plan'' was named the best on YouTube for the MidRange Awards 2022.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians * Pat Finnerty – lead vocals, guitars (all tracks); bass (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5), drums (tracks 1, 4) * Pat Berkery – drums (track 2) * Toby Leaman – bass guitar, vocals (track 3) * Travis Harrison – drums (track 3) * Balzman – background vocals (track 3) *

Zach Miller Zach Miller may refer to: *Zach Miller (tight end, born 1984), NFL tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Chicago Bears *Zach Miller (tight end, born 1985) Zachary Joseph Miller (born December 11, 1985) is an Ameri ...

– keyboards (track 4) * Kim – vocals (track 4) *

– drums (track 5) Technical * Pat Finnerty –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

(tracks 1–4),

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(all tracks), mixing (tracks 1, 4) *

– production, mixing (track 5) * Travis Harrison – mastering (all tracks), mixing (track 3) * Tim "BigTimmy11" Phillips – mixing (track 2)

References

External links