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Known for their emotive, sonically layered punk sound, Chicago's Homesafe emerged in the mid-2010s with 2016's highly rated Evermore EP, followed by their full-length debut, 2018's One. The group remained prolific into the next decade with additional EPs and the 2021 album Nervous Reaction.

Singer/guitarist Ryan Rumchaks initially launched his career as a bassist touring with fellow Chicago punk outfit Knuckle Puck before forming Homesafe around 2014. Joining him were Tyler Albertson on shared lead vocals and bass, Joe Colesby on guitar, and Emanuel Duran on drums. They debuted their muscular emo-punk sound with two initial EPs including 2016's Evermore on Bad Timing Records. Signing with West Coast indie Pure Noise in 2018, Homesafe leaned into their '90s rock influences on One, their debut album. A year later, their previous label combined a pair of earlier EPs, Homesafe and Inside Your Head, into a single release, which the band followed with 2020's two-song single What's Mine Is Yours. Homesafe returned in 2021 with their second LP, the brief but intense Nervous Reaction. ~ Matt Collar

M.A.G.S. is the project of Elliott Douglas, a Los Angeles-based musician from Buffalo whose energetic songs live at the fulcrum of ragged garage rock and muscular alt-pop. He came up as a drummer in Buffalo's punk and hardcore scenes before launching his own project in the mid-2010s. A melodic singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with a D.I.Y. spirit, Douglas issued M.A.G.S.'s eponymous debut in 2017, then signed to East Coast indie Take This to Heart for his 2021 follow-up, Say Things That Matter. By this point, Douglas had relocated to California, and he returned with the visceral 2023 outing Destroyer on Smartpunk Records.

Growing up in Buffalo, New York, Douglas began playing drums at age 12, gravitating toward heavy bands like Underoath, Coheed and Cambria, and Circa Survive. As his tastes grew more diverse, he also began playing guitar and writing and recording his own material. In 2015, he joined the roster of local indie Admirable Traits. He chose the moniker Mags to honor his grandmother Maggie, which he later stylized as M.A.G.S. A year after the release of his first EP, Cellophane, one of his songs, the garage pop banger "My Love," was used in an episode of the Showtime series Shameless, creating anticipation for the 2017 full-length M.A.G.S. The release yielded a number of popular tracks like the jagged "Demon" and album standout "Drugs." After a move to Los Angeles, Douglas signed with Boston indie Take This to Heart, which issued his 2021 follow-up, Say Things That Matter. Like his debut, the album fused biting guitar tones with big, rousing melodies that kept one foot in the D.I.Y. indie world while also playing to the back seats. In early 2022, M.A.G.S. took a detour, offering an EP that reimagined several tracks from his previous record in an electronic dream pop style. After signing with Florida imprint Smartpunk, Douglas continued to explore on 2023's Destroyer, an album that played like a composite of all his varied styles from hardcore to sugary garage pop and shoegaze. ~ Timothy Monger

Formerly known as the SpacePimps, Eternal Boy are a pop-punk trio from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who draw influence from the heyday of the Drive-Thru Records era. Singer/guitarist Rishi Bahl, bassist Joe Harbulak, and drummer Andy Mayer all met in high school and began playing shows locally in 2003, honing their songs for a few years before self-releasing their full-length debut, Turn It Up!, in 2006. It caught the attention of Japanese label Kick Rock Music, who reissued the album a year later and brought the SpacePimps out for a tour of Japan. The international attention helped them earn some traction at home and they soon became regulars on the Warped Tour between 2007-2009. Working with producer Chris Badami, the band recorded its follow-up LP, 2010's Stuck Here Forever, which again saw release in Japan and China as well as the U.S. Their third album, 2013's Eternal Boy, was their most successful yet, entering digital charts in the Top 40 and faring even better on the alternative charts. After a return to Japan and China as well as a North American tour, the band decided to retire the SpacePimps name and carry on as Eternal Boy, re-releasing their third album solely under that moniker. After signing with Four Chord Music, the trio returned to the studio with Badami to record 2017's Awkward Phase, their fourth overall album and first official release as Eternal Boy. ~ Timothy Monger