Macseal are back and embracing their roots: "It goes back to a lot of the pop-rock we grew up listening to"

Long Island four-piece Macseal delve into classic 90s indie-rock and power pop for their second album, 'Permanent Repeat'.

Words: Rob Mair.
Photos: Brooke Marsh.

"I do think, the way we operate as a band, we need to give ourselves a deadline, otherwise, it'll never get done," laughs Macseal drummer Frankie Impastato, as we discuss 'Permanent Repeat', the Long Island indie-punk/power pop champs astonishingly brilliant, five-years-in-the-making, new album.

In some way, this laid-back approach explains the gap between the album and the group's full-length debut, 'Super Enthusiast', but it's not the whole story. The pandemic undoubtedly played a part, largely preventing the band from touring the record, but it also halted any chance for the group to get the creative juices flowing. While many of their peers used the lockdowns to get creative, for life in Macseal, things pretty much ground to a halt. Frankie, for example, estimates that she didn't play drums for nearly 200 consecutive due to being holed up in an apartment without a kit. Then, just to complicate matters further, for a period, the group found themselves living in different states for a hot minute.

"It feels like a lot of bands used that time to write," says Frankie, "But we didn't really have that luxury because I didn't live near anyone. And even if I did, it's hard to write when you don't have a drum set in your apartment."

In short, life has moved at a glacial pace for the group – completed by Cole Szilagyi, Ryan Bartlett and Justin Canavaciol.

But while that inertia was a curse, it also gave them what most bands crave: time. With no pressure on them to put out a follow-up to 'Super Enthusiast' – which had grown into a word-of-mouth smash by this point – they could really define where they wanted to go next with the band. The results speak for themselves on their second effort 'Permanent Repeat', which sees the group embracing classic 90s indie-rock and power pop in beautiful and clever ways.

The touchstones are pretty easy to spot – Nada Surf, Fountains of Wayne, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Goo Goo Dolls – essentially, bands who make timeless indie-pop/rock which is just as focused on making you feel something as it is about making you move your feet. 

"Fountains of Wayne was a big one," confirms Cole. "I feel like when Adam Schlesinger passed during COVID is when I got super obsessed, unfortunately. But they were a big inspiration."

"I think it goes back to a lot of the pop-rock we grew up listening to," continues Ryan. "Like, the Goo Goo Dolls or a bunch of other bands like that, which I'd hear on the radio in the minivan with my mom. I think we rediscovered how much we love that stuff and how much it meant to us to try and recreate what we listened to when we were growing up that made us feel excited and happy – but this time, we're doing it and not just listening to it.

"During the recording process, I'd walk into the studio and turn on this bittersweet 2000s pop rock playlist," concludes Justin. "It was just full of early Jimmy Eat World, Snow Patrol, Keane, Matchbox 20, and Michelle Branch. It was great," he laughs.