Music / Jeff Rosenstock

Jeff at the Mo Pop Festival in 2018

I rush to my phone
Because I don't wanna feel alone
They forced us to grow into a world without a soul

— "To Be a Ghost..."

Jeffrey Ernest Rosenstock is an American punk musician hailing from Long Island, New York. Originally known for his work in The Arrogant Sons Of Bitches and then Bomb the Music Industry!, he has since embarked on a successful solo career, releasing 5 studio albums^note Technically 6 if you count SKA DREAM since 2015.

Jeff's solo albums are noticeably more oriented towards pop punk and power pop than that of his previous work, but his scathing political commentary and lyrics about his own personal struggles are still ever-present.

Discography

• I Look Like Shit (mixtape, 2012)
• We Cool? (2015)
• WORRY. (2016)
• POST- (2018)
• NO DREAM (2020)
  • SKA DREAM (A complete rerecording of NO DREAM as a Ska Punk album, 2021)
• HELLMODE (2023)

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We Begged 2 Read Tropes

• Album Intro Track:
  • "Mornin'!" off of POST- is a 10-second message from Laura Stevenson saying that she hopes the message will end up on the album.
  • "NO TIME" is a fast-paced punk song that serves as the opener for NO DREAM.
• Album Title Drop:
  • The closing lyrics of "...While You're Alive"
  • "N O D R E A M" almost has one with the lyric "It's not a dream, it's not a dream."
• The Alcoholic: Jeff has struggled with alcoholism at times, and it occasionally pops up in his lyrics.
• All Caps: The titles of all of Jeff's albums other than "We Cool?" are formatted this way.
  • "HELLLLHOOOOLE" from WORRY.
  • "NO TIME" and "N O D R E A M" from NO DREAM
• all lowercase letters: "f a m e"
• Anti-Police Song: "The Fuzz"
• Epic Rocking: "Let Them Win" is 11 minutes long, although the second half is just an ambient synthesizer outro.
• Fading into the Next Song: Starting with "Blast Damage Days," every subsequent track on WORRY. leads directly into the next.
• Growing Up Sucks: A common theme in Jeff's lyrics, most prevalent on songs like "Get Old Forever" and "We Begged 2 Explode."
• I Am the Band: Despite his albums only being credited to his name, Jeff refers to himself and his backing band as "Death Rosenstock."
• Infomercial: The music video for "Scram!" parodies local-access infomercials, complete with cheesy 90s computer graphics.
• Miniscule Rocking:
  • We Cool?: "Hey Allison!"
  • WORRY.: "Pash Rash," "Pietro, 60 Years Old"
    • Tracks 10 to 16 on are all less than 2 minutes long. They all fade into each other to form a sort of medley.
  • POST-: "Beating My Head Against a Wall"
  • NO DREAM: "NO TIME," "Nikes (Alt)," "Monday at the Beach"
• Motor Mouth: Jeff can sing really fast if he wants to. Some examples include the bridge of "Festival Song" and the breakdown of "N O D R E A M."
• My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: "USA," "N O D R E A M"
• Product Displacement: The title of "***BNB"
• Shout-Out:
  • Jeff name-drops several of his former bandmates and musician friends throughout "You, in Weird Cities."
  • The "No Jeffs Club" in the music video for "Wave Goodnight to Me" is a reference to The Simpsons episode "Homer the Great".
• Title Track: "N O D R E A M"