self-released – 15 Jun, 2026
The past is always present, but Ghost Stories refuses to live solely in it.
There are ghosts haunting Ghost Stories, though probably not the kind Fall Break had in mind. Across ten tracks and 39 minutes, the Lincoln, Nebraska quartet’s self-released record feels populated by remnants of a particular era. Late-’90s and early-2000s alternative rock, emo and pop punk when the lines separating those genres mattered considerably less. It’s Drive-Thru and Vagrant compilations, latter-year Warped Tour lineups and enormous millennial melodies paired with something heavier lurking underneath.
Maybe some of that is simply an aging punk writer hearing his youth reflected back at him. Either way, Ghost Stories never feels like nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. Opener “Spaces/Places” makes that clear almost immediately. A restrained beginning bursts into a bouncing melodic punch from an era when sincerity wasn’t something pop punk needed to apologize for. “Playing Pretend,” built around breaking free from the roles we assign ourselves, similarly makes introspection feel anthemic.
But as Ghost Stories progresses, those ghosts become increasingly personal. “Asleep” presents a constant push and pull. Guitars alternate between soft restraint and loud release while an internal monologue struggles between reassurance and dread. Everything might be okay but “the worst can still find a way.” Even going forward can feel like going nowhere. That tension explodes on “Ghosts,” another soft/loud banger where the album’s title and musical identity finally converge. Harmonic whoas collide with rising instrumentation while impressive vocals move from soft restraint to full-throated release, occasionally tiptoeing into falsetto. Here the ghosts are regrets, memories and mistakes that refuse to stay buried. Even the melodies occasionally feel haunted.
Elsewhere, “Shame” reaches toward soaring, near-arena-sized emo largesse while “Seperate” pairs the band’s melodic foundation with the technicality and sharper edges of early-2000s post-hardcore. Throughout, harmonies are deployed sparingly enough to matter when they arrive. That’s Ghost Stories‘ greatest strength. Fall Break sound like a band raised downstream from an entire musical scene without being trapped by it. The past is always present here, whether it’s the music that shaped us, the identities we’ve assigned ourselves or the mistakes we can’t completely leave behind.
Fall Break aren’t trying to resurrect those ghosts. They’ve simply learned how to live in the same house.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/