Light Years is a four-piece pop-punk band from Cleveland, OH. The band was formed in the summer of 2009 at Kent State University after, according to vocalist/guitarist Pat Kennedy, he and bassist Tommy Englert “played in shitty bands together” all throughout high school. Light Years is less shitty than those bands.

The band self-released an EP called This Will Come Back To Haunt Me in September 2010, then put out another EP called Just Between Us via Escapist Records in April 2012. At some point down the line, they decided to drop out of college to focus on touring. They met Paper + Plastick Records and will put out their debut LP, I Won’t Hold This Against You, with the Gainesville-based label on June 18, 2013. The record is now available for preorder in the Paper + Plastick webstore in digital and vinyl formats.

The band bears resemblances to the pop-punk grandfathers before them, like blink-182, New Found Glory, Lifetime and The Movielife. But I Won’t Hold This Against You brings something else to the table, something that goes beyond the normal angst of a breakup record or the jubilation of an album simply celebrating youth. Alternative Press calls it “pop-punk for recent grown-ups,” and we think this is accurate.

On first single “Parking Lots,” Kennedy, Englert, guitarist Andrew Foerst and drummer Kent Sliney bring forth a powerful burst of nostalgia. The song was released along with fellow I Won’t Hold This Against You album track “Put Myself Together” (and an acoustic version of that track) on the Parking Lots EP. This short, sweet, three-song release was put out in anticipation of the Ohioans’ debut full-length, and is on sale in the Paper + Plastick webstore for only $1.

 

back to artists