The room was dark and loud. The crowd jumped and punched, undulating with the heavy rock sound.
It was the closing set of a punk rock show at Rancho Nipomo BBQ’s Gold Rush Cantina, and the local band Yearbooks was in the spotlight. The five-piece punk/pop band didn’t have more than a half hour to perform, but they made every second count for the audience.
The concert that day began at 5 p.m. and went late, so the crowd was a bit beleaguered, but Yearbooks didn’t let anybody rest. Screaming electric guitars, rapid-fire bass and drums, and belting vocals kept everyone moving, or at least listening.
It was the first local show for the Lompoc-based band this year, lead singer/songwriter Kevin Lietz told the Sun in a later interview. The group has been performing up and down the state since releasing their first full length album, Peer Pressure, in February. They’ve played in Ventura, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, and LA, he explained.
“We’re just trying to play as much as possible,” he said. “We’re planning stuff to go out of state. Hopefully this summer we can jump into being on the road a lot more.”
The 23-year-old writes the lyrics and melodies for the band with musical help from his brother, Brett Lietz, 22, who plays rhythm guitar and sings backup vocals.
Kevin said that he and his brother have been playing music together for a decade and were fans of heavy rock like Van Halen initially. They became immersed in pop/punk music in 2014 and released a rough EP with a few songs. The siblings are known for their tight vocals and harmonies both on record and live, Kevin said.
“We’re brothers and we have kind of the same voice, and at first we weren’t trying that hard, but then more and more people were saying we sounded good live,” he said. “I love getting that compliment from people, and that’s something that people always say is the harmonies are on point.”
Yearbooks’ style is reminiscent of punk/rock groups like Blink 182 and New Found Glory, with singing (and screaming) about hard breakups and other growing pains.
The rest of the band is notable for the dynamic whole they create with the Lietz brothers. The group’s drummer, Carlos Esparza, is one of the band’s original members, Kevin said, who’s “been with us since the very beginning.” Guitarist Chandler Keeton and bassist Miguel Enciso may not have been around that long, but they’re vital members of the group who helped form the new album.
Peer Pressure was produced by Stephen Klein, Kevin explained, who is famous for work with New Found Glory and other bands that epitomize the genre. Klein was instrumental in elevating the quality of Yearbooks’ first album, he said.
“He really wants to see us do well, and this album is doing pretty well without any label support,” Kevin said. “He taught me how to sing better and taught all of us how to construct our songs better, and it’s been a blessing to work with him.”
The album sounds like something you could buy at Best Buy from a band on the roster at Warped Tour, according to local photographer Jeremy Wirth.
Wirth was at the March 24 show to get some shots, hear the bands, and see old friends.
Wirth said that he was happy to see a younger pop/punk band like Yearbooks, which he said are at the “tail end of the 2000’s pop/punk generation.” Wirth, who’s 29 and graduated high school in 2007, played in multiple groups during and just after high school, he said, with local musicians like Chris Lambert and Chris Scott. Scott drums for The Mighty Fine, which performed before Yearbooks at the March 24 show.
“It’s really cool to see people still doing it because the alternative music scene on the Central Coast is pretty much gone,” Wirth said. “I think what you saw the other night is as good as it’s gonna get.”
The concert at the Gold Rush Cantina included the Bay Area-based punk band The Shell Corporation as well as other local groups. Most of the members of the local groups are getting older, committing to full-time jobs, and having kids, Wirth said.
“It’s the case with any art, but we’re facing the same situation we’ve always been facing on the Central Coast, especially in Santa Maria, is money and support,” Wirth said. “It just doesn’t exist.”
That’s why Yearbooks is taking to the road, Kevin said. The band makes enough for a hotel room and gas when they perform in the Bay Area or LA, he said, and they’ve been making some money with downloads of the new album.
“It’s never about the money, but if you make money, it’s a cool little bonus,” he said.
But Yearbooks is also getting hits from fans of pop/punk music from well out of state. The album can be streamed for free at Bandcamp and on Spotify, Kevin explained, for those who can’t afford to buy the album.
Those websites are able to track the analytics for who’s listening and where, he said, and the No. 2 most listens come from London, England. Signs like that are motivating for the whole band, he said, and an indicator that there’s still an audience for pop/punk and emo music.
“If it dies, it dies, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Kevin said. “But we’re just going to keep on rocking, keep going forward with it. Maybe we could be the band that revives it, you never know.
“Sometimes it gets hard and sometimes you make excuses,” he added, “but at the end of the day we’ve got an awesome album, and it deserves to get to as many people as we can get it to.”
Managing Editor Joe Payne is no emo. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 5-12, 2018.