Modern Baseball were a Philadelphia-based emo band formed in Brunswick, Maryland in 2011 around Jake Ewald and Brendan Lukens, whose wry, self-deprecating songwriting anchored the 2010s emo revival. You're Gonna Miss It All (2014) and Holy Ghost (2016) are the essentials. Find Modern Baseball vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Modern Baseball formed in Brunswick, Maryland in 2011 around Jake Ewald and Brendan Lukens (high school friends). They subsequently relocated to Philadelphia for college and built their audience through the broader Philadelphia DIY emo revival scene alongside contemporaries like the Wonder Years, Marietta, and Tigers Jaw. Their debut Sports (2012) on Lame-O Records was a Bandcamp success and built their cult following across the 2010s. They moved to Run for Cover Records for You're Gonna Miss It All (2014) and Holy Ghost (2016). The band went on indefinite hiatus in October 2017 amid Brendan Lukens's mental health and substance abuse treatment needs. Ewald has continued with Slaughter Beach, Dog (his solo project, then full band); Huber has continued with Steady Hands.
Modern Baseball's sound combines emo, indie rock, pop punk, indie pop, and emo revival with Ewald and Lukens's distinctive dual-vocalist delivery, jangly guitar work, and lyrical content addressing relationships, anxiety, and personal experience drawing on literary and self-deprecating approaches.
Lame-O Records and Run for Cover Records pressings of the Modern Baseball catalog have been issued in extensive color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings, with collector demand.
Listeners new to Modern Baseball typically start with You're Gonna Miss It All (2014) or Holy Ghost (2016).
