Thought you heard the last of Acceptance? Think again! The pop-punk outfit has returned to release a 20-year anniversary re-recording of 2005’s Phantoms with some special guests. The album, Phantoms/Twenty, due out on September 12, boasts myriad features from scene veterans, including Hey Monday‘s Cassadee Pope, The Maine‘s John O’Callaghan, and Boys Like Girls‘ Martin Johnson. In fact, the group officially launched their crossover with the Boys Like Girls singer today, “Take Cover.”
Johnson shares, “I graduated high school, class of 2004, in a fever dream of guitar chords and burned CDs—when Phantoms was gospel and ‘Take Cover’ was the song we howled at underage house parties, banging on beat-up acoustics during that final summer of childhood before the real world was supposed to start. Navigating restless tides in a sea of indie-label-cred-focused bands was Acceptance, touting clean hooks and songs in major keys on a debut album released on Columbia proper. A key influence, their sound carved out a path we prayed we might walk down eventually.”
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Johnson adds, “I remember blasting the album front to back, cooking down 495 from Andover to band practice in Taunton with the windows down and dreams bigger than our hometowns. We all crowded on the stage at the old Avalon Club in Boston, watching and taking notes when the Truck Stops and State Lines Tour came through town in 2005—one class of releases before our debut. It was electric. It was sacred. That night lit a fuse. I still believe that when Boys Like Girls signed to Columbia ourselves, it was because Acceptance lived there first. Now, here we are, twenty years later. To be given the opportunity to record a piece of this song and join hands for this reawakening is not just an honor—it’s a full-circle miracle of an encore I never expected to be a part of.”
Acceptance notes of the collab, “Martin was one of the first artists we thought of when we originally started on this journey. Boys Like Girls were label mates with Acceptance at Columbia Records, and we always felt there was a strong musical connection. ‘Take Cover,’ a song that was originally written to capture the raw emotion of being young and navigating love and betrayal, seemed like a perfect match for Martin’s signature vocal style. He has such a charismatic presence, which really shows in his interpretation of the song. Martin took it, ran with it, and the collaboration turned out better than we could have imagined. We couldn’t think of a more fitting way to kick off Phantoms/Twenty.”
Check out the collab below.
Phantoms/Twenty Tracklist:
- “Take Cover” featuring Martin Johnson
- “So Contagious” featuring Teddy Swims
- “In Too Far” featuring Jenna McDougall
- “The Letter” featuring John O’Callaghan
- “Different” featuring Alex Gaskarth
- “Ad Astra Per Aspera” – Instrumental featuring Ellisay
- “This Conversation Is Over” featuring Stephen Christian
- “Over You” featuring Derek DiScanio
- “Breathless” featuring Charlotte Sands
- “In The Cold” featuring Mitch Grassi
- “Permanent” featuring Matty Mullins
- “Glory/Us” featuring Cassadee Pope
You can catch Acceptance on upcoming shows throughout the fall. Check out their route below and grab tickets here.
Tour Dates:
- Aug. 22—Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
- Sept. 12—San Diego, CA @ The Observatory
- Sept. 13—Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
- Sept. 14—Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda
- Oct. 17—Worcester, MA @ Palladium Upstairs
- Oct. 18—Brooklyn, NY @ The Brooklyn Monarch
- Oct. 19—Philadelphia, PA @ TLA
