“Signs of Life from New Jersey”
Written by Jesse James Smith
It’s only taken 4 years, but we finally have new music from New Jersey’s emo outfit Misery!. In 2021, Misery! started hot out of the gate with their EP ‘XOX’ which was released on Revival Recordings. After having some member changes through the years the band took a step back to regroup while still never fully going off grid. But now, in the year of our lord 2025, they are back and they are back with a vengeance! Now this isn’t a usual single release. Their new song comes off of the soundtrack for an indie film titled ‘Director’s Cut, but Misery!’s new song comes as a lead off single from that soundtrack! No matter how or why we get new music, we got it and let’s be grateful. This song is called ‘Casey’ and it is everything we loved about Misery!. Let’s dive in and discuss and see if it was worth the wait.
‘Casey’ is an energetic track that is theatrical and exciting! The one thing I loved about Misery!’s first album was the new school view on old emo post hardcore, and this ties along with that vibe perfectly. The whole song but mainly the intro and verses feel like it belongs in the old school emo category alongside Hawthorne Heights, My Chem and even Silverstein. This song is just as fast paced as their song ‘Everything Is Fine’ which is their biggest song. They both have a similar vibe and that is very fast and attention demanding. They show their skills more in this track though, especially in the drums and vocals. Singer Gabe Perez’s voice is the forefront of this song for sure and for good reason. The range and dynamics in his performance is unmatched and is the most resonating part of the song. It does feel theatrical in the way Ice Nine Kills is theatrical which 1. Working with Ricky Armellino is going to do that and 2. Being that it is connected to a horror movie, this is exactly what I would expect.
Seeing the band have a stable lineup and is releasing something is a good sign of a bright future. After this long, many bands would have thrown in the towel, but this is a great comeback for the band to start rebuilding the name they once were starting to get. In many ways I think releasing it with a movie attached is the best way they could have done this because it is so fitting and it has some cool creds behind it. I hope to see them capitalize this with another release this year, if not, that would be a let down. But for now it feels like the first sip of cold water after being in the sun for way too long.