Face Value is a Pop Punk/Alternative band from Baltimore, MD. The band recently released their EP, Growing Up Young, where they present a positive and hopeful lyrical style in line with the throwback 90’s pop-punk upon which they mould their sound. The band were kind enough to write a track by track for their debut EP which can purchase on Bandcamp. Read the track by track below!

Up Late
Ahh, Up Late. This song came together one day while Alec, Jeb and Park were practicing in Alec’s basement. It was just one of those rare moments where the chips fell in all the right places. The intro riff of the song was all Alec. He just started playing it and Park came in with some killer palm-muting and it just worked well together. I think Jeb started messing around on the ride and hi-hat like Jeb likes to do and the song really took off from there. This all happened just as I (Grayson) was joining the band, so I wasn’t there for it (tear runs down my face). But, after they showed me the general structure of the song I knew just what I had to do. I wrote really simple bass parts that a 3rd grader could play, that’s my contribution to this masterpiece… We recorded it as a single last summer and then re-recorded it for the EP. As far as the meaning goes, we have all been there when our parents or someone older than us tells us not to fuck around and get in trouble, even though they did the same thing when they were young… That’s what this song means to us.

Car Door
Car Door is interesting… If you listen to it or watch the music video, it’s obviously a break-up song. Park had most of the guitar parts and lyrics written a long time before we recorded it. He found inspiration from events (real and fictitious) that transpired at the end of his previous relationship, which was with another human being, a girl. As far as the meaning goes, the first verse is more straight-forward and word-for-word. I mean, what young couple hasn’t journeyed to the nearest hotel … or church parking lot… and gotten cozy, fogging up the windows? The second verse is metaphorical and is more for people who can relate to or fear a failing relationship that involves infidelity. I like the bridge a lot because me (Gray) and Park wrote it back when I was in 10th grade while we were just messing around playing in our basement with our friend, Galen Mooney. After Jeb wrote drums for it, it came out exactly as I had pictured, just 8 years later. I think that’s cool… you never know when you can implement something from your riff toolbox, I tell ya.

Thank You, Buddy
Alec and Jeb had this song written before me and Park even joined the band. It’s fast, raw, and really emulates the ideas that Jeb and Alec represent in our music. It’s definitely our most smash-mouth, energetic song, and Jeb thinks it’s “boppy”. After Park and I joined the band, he wrote some octave leads over Alec’s rhythms and I think they really add a small yet dramatic edge to the entire song. Regarding meaning, Alec wrote this song after a close friend dicked him over. You can hear it in the lyrics, which are pretty straight-forward. But they tell a good story. Your best bud should always have your back. This song is for anyone who can relate to a time when that just didn’t happen.

Adhesive Strip
Let’s get real for a second. This song is Alec pouring his heart out. It’s most definitely the saddest song Alec has ever written, lyrically, as it dives into his struggle with a parent’s alcohol addiction. It touches on the ideas of not giving immediate forgiveness to someone who doesn’t deserve it, as well as blaming one'es self for the situation. A lot of Alec’s lyrics were written in the heat of the moment, so they may sound sharp and bitter at first, but anyone who has gone through a similar addictive cycle could relate to this song in many ways. The main acoustic chord progression adds a very dark backdrop to the song but there are definitely signs of hope with Gray’s melodic, clean, electric leads, and a touch of cello as the song progresses. This is the first original acoustic song Face Value has ever recorded and we think it turned out very well.  

I’ve Been Unraveling
This track is basically a small groove we wanted to use to introduce Stability when we play it live. We were in Alec’s basement one day and Jeb was playing this lick on the drums and I started playing single notes on the bass. Park hit this hard A chord and it just felt so right. We wanted to build it up and then have it transition just like on Sum 41’s “Chuck” between their intro song and “No Reason”. Its meaning is interesting because it’s a precursor to Stability, which is another song that tells a lot about some struggles Alec has been and continues to go through. We all LOVE Breaking Bad and I was watching an episode one day where Hank said, “I’ve Been Unraveling”, and those words really stuck with me. When I hear this song, I think about the series of events that made Alec literally and metaphorically unravel before he wrote “Stability” and that’s why we chose the name. This track may not be long or meaningful to people, but it certainly is to us.

Stability
This is another song that was written before the “Ross Brothers” era of Face Value. It’s one of my favorites to listen to because of the lyrics, the drums, the guitars, and the fact that the gang vocals include Kyle Ritter (previous bass player and best friend of the band). This heavily relates to our previous song, Adhesive Strip, as it also focuses on a parent’s alcoholism. This song was written years before Adhesive Strip, which really shows how long the problem has persisted in Alec’s life. Stability, lyrically, is much more literal then Adhesive Strip, however. This song shows much more straightforward distaste at times with lines such as, “Don’t cry out your apologies they mean nothing to me, your knife cut deeper into the skin can you see.” Stability was the first and only song Face Value has ever written in Drop D tuning and this causes many problems especially because Alec literally breaks or loses his tuner every week. We would also say that Stability is the hardest song Face Value has written, encompassing a small breakdown/beat-down outro section and the previously mentioned gang vocals.

Members Only
This song is special for so many reasons. It was the first song we all played together with our current lineup. Alec and Jeb wrote the structure and rhythm of the song and as usual, Park came in with those damn lead octave parts. The leads are hot. They’re spicy. They’re like eating Taco Bell for dinner after having Qdoba for breakfast and Chipotle for lunch. The song is fast, energetic, and the lyrics mean a whole lot to us. In September of 2013 Alec’s grandfather made the decision to take his own life. Members Only was written shortly after and it is, for the most part, about Alec’s emotions surrounding this traumatic incident and how he was able to cope with a loss like this. “My grandfather was a huge role model for me and the fact that he did this without any sort of explanation and without any sort of warning left me with a lot of questions, guilt, and sadness”, says Alec. We also wrote this song to convey a very important message. The things that lead to suicide such as depression should not be taken lightly. We hope that people start to see that depression and addiction and other mental illnesses should be treated like ILLNESSES, and should not be easily overlooked or stigmatized. We live in a world where nobody bats an eye at the amount of people going to doctors offices because of the abundance of health issues in our society, yet people who try to seek help for mental health issues are looked at as “psychos” or “weird”. Treating people with these illnesses as convicts and as outcasts will only cause more negative consequences for them as well as their families and loved ones. We would also like to say that suicide does not end the chances of life getting worse, suicide eliminates the possibility of it ever getting better. We beg anybody who feels like giving up to please understand that they are not alone. There are so many awesome organizations such as Summer of Hope, AFSP, and the prevention lifeline that were all made to help. And to any of our friends or even not-so-close people out there, we are always here to talk and help. R.I.P. Pop pop I miss you.

Lucky Number Seven
This song was originally going to be about staying home and pleasuring yourself and not going out and partying like everyone else does nowadays. Bastards. It started with a riff I wrote in my dorm room last fall, which ended up being used in the verses. I came to practice one day and showed it to Park, who wrote the chorus and interlude sections. In my opinion, Jeb could not have played better drums on this track. His fills and beats emulated the exact feel we wanted with this song and I love him for that everyday. Lyrically, this song is a melting pot. Park came in with the 2nd verse and bridge while Jeb wrote the chorus and Alec wrote the first verse. It is meant for anyone who is feeling the stress of a potential relationship, constantly wondering what the other person is thinking and why the fuck they are fucking with their head. It’s a song about insecurity, indecisiveness, relationships, emotions, and the moon and tide. If you can’t relate to it, then go outside and look to the moon. We also like space and enjoy relating planetary physics to relationship struggles.

Ruminate
I think every person alive can relate to this song. The meaning is really in the tilte. “Ruminate”, which means to think deeply about something or in this case… someone. It’s about just thinking about that one person that has your interest at the moment and how you can’t stop thinking about him or her. It starts off nice and soft saying, “Don’t be surprised when I reform the bags that clothed my eyes”. That’s pretty much just saying, “Hey, I can’t stop thinking about you and it’s keeping me awake at night”. I have two main favorite parts about this song. The first part being the kick-in. After two verses and two choruses you’re just thinking to yourself, “This is a cool piano song”, then BAM! There’s a full band going strong and Alec’s now belting his feelings. The second part would be the ending. Throughout the EP you’ve heard three different voices and after the third chorus, you get to hear them all at once with passion. It’s so full and exciting. And then it all drops and ends with the piano riff. I can’t think of a better song we could’ve ended G.U.Y with. In the end, growing up sucks and we live in a world that makes you do it sooner than you should. But no matter what’s thrown at you while you’re trying to survive this up-hill battle called “life”, whether it be friends or family letting you down, broken hearts from relationships, or anything in between, remember to have fun and enjoy the little things. And keep Growing Up Young playing “over in your head” again and again.

Connect with Face Value on the following websites:
www.facebook.com/WeAreFaceValue
www.reverbnation.com/WeAreFaceValue
www.instagram.com/WeAreFaceValue
www.twitter.com/WeareFaceValue