Pop 'stache

I don’t know what it is about New Jersey’s pop-punk bands, but they have a way of breaking my fucking heart.

First it was The Ergs!. They released some of the best new school pop-punk during their tenure – Drockrockcorkrod and Jersey’s Best Prancers are both essential records – and called it quits when they were only getting better. Now, their sister group The Measure [SA] has decided to call it a day, when they too were improving.

On January 11^th, bandleaders Lauren Measure and Fid announced via their website that 2011 will signal the end of the band. It was a shock to the punk rock community and one of the biggest losses in recent memory.

For those uninitiated, The Measure [SA] proved to be one of the best female fronted pop-punk bands in recent memory. Since the release of 2008’s Songs About People…and Fruit ‘n Shit the band was making music that delivered upon all the promise that had been seen earlier in their career. The Measure [SA] released tons of  7” splits before unleashing Notes in late 2010. Notes not only claimed a spot in my year-end recap, but it was so good that it made me declare that The Measure [SA] had surpassed the highly influential Discount as being the best band of their ilk. Now their career trajectories seem even more similar, in that they are both breaking up after releasing their best album.

While it is incredibly disappointing to see a band as refreshing as The Measure [SA] dissolve, there are still releases to come from the band. “We’re planning on releasing the next collection record of the more recent 7”s later in 2011,” says the band in its post, as well as giving people hope of some new material, “There’s a possibility of another couple 7”s as well.”

With a tentative last show scheduled for this October at the Fest 10 in Gainesville, Fla., it’s hard to think of a better way for the band to go out. If there’s one event that will be able to turn this bittersweet ceremony into an uproarious celebration, it’s The Fest, but it doesn’t mean that the loss of The Measure [SA] will be any easier to accept.

Read our recap of The Fest 9.