Knuckle Puck

Knuckle Puck are an American pop-punk band formed in 2010 in the south suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. The group emerged from a fertile Chicago-area scene alongside acts like Real Friends and The Story So Far, quickly building a reputation as one of the harder-edged, more emotionally raw bands in the genre. Their name comes from a t-shirt slogan used by the hardcore band Stick To Your Guns.

Fronted by Joe Taylor, whose gritty, urgent vocal delivery anchors the band, Knuckle Puck built their following through relentless touring and a run of releases that includes the album Copacetic and later records such as Shapeshifter and Losing What We Love. Their sound blends melodic pop-punk hooks with the intensity and bite of 90s emo and hardcore, favoring anthemic choruses paired with lyrics about heartbreak, anxiety, and growing up.

Songs like «Untitled», «Pretense», and «Disdain» showcase the interplay between twin guitarists whose riffs swing between aggressive and melodic, while tracks such as «No Good» and «Evergreen» highlight the band's knack for confessional, singalong songwriting. Knuckle Puck remain a mainstay of the modern pop-punk and emo revival scene, respected for staying true to their DIY, hardcore-adjacent roots even as their audience has grown.