Midtown is an American

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

band from

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Midtown was formed in November 1998 by three

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

students, but quickly became a quartet. The group released three full-length studio albums and three

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

s before disbanding in 2005. In early 2014, Midtown reunited to play three shows, the first as a secret show at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, and the two remaining at the Skate And Surf Festival. They reunited for more shows in 2022 as openers on My Chemical Romance's reunion tour. Midtown have cited numerous bands and artists as influences, including

the Get Up Kids The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album ''Something to Write Home About' ...

the Promise Ring The Promise Ring was an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that is recognized as part of the second wave of emo. Among various other EPs and singles, the band released four studio albums during their initial run: '' 30° Everywhere'' ...

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

Jets to Brazil Jets to Brazil was an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, USA. They formed in 1997 and were active until 2003. History Jets to Brazil was founded by Blake Schwarzenbach, the former frontman of Jawbreaker, and Jeremy Chatelain, w ...

, Kid Dynamite,

Lagwagon Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara. They formed in 1989, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the band's tour van, which can ...

, Pavement, and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

History

Midtown was formed in 1998 by

students

Gabe Saporta Gabriel Eduardo Saporta (born October 11, 1979) is an Uruguayan-American musician and entrepreneur. From the years 2005 until 2015, he was the lead vocalist and founder of the electropop band Cobra Starship. On November 10, 2015, after nearly te ...

(vocals/bass), Rob Hitt (drums), and Tyler Rann (guitar/vocals). The group added Heath Saraceno on guitar/vocals, and used its roots in the New Jersey punk scene to develop a sound that combined elements of

and punk rock. Midtown began recording shortly after its formation. The band's first EP, ''The Sacrifice of Life'', was released by Pinball Records in 1999, followed by a debut album, '' Save the World, Lose the Girl'', released in early 2000 by the American independent record label

Drive-Thru Records Drive-Thru Records was a California-based independent record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. The label was partially responsible for popularizing the pop-punk/emo merger sound of the early to mid-2000s. After facing financia ...

. The band was then upstreamed to major label

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

for its following album, '' Living Well Is the Best Revenge'' (2002). Midtown's next album, ''

Forget What You Know ''Forget What You Know'' is the third studio album by American rock band Midtown. Following the release of '' Living Well Is the Best Revenge'' (2002), MCA was merged into Geffen Records, and the band was not picked up by the latter label. The ...

'' (2004), was produced while the band was not under contract with a record label and was later picked up by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. This was the band's final studio album; they disbanded shortly after its release in 2005. Former frontman

then became the lead singer of the

alternative dance Alternative dance (also known as indie dance or underground dance in the U.S.) is a musical genre that mixes alternative rock with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained American and worldwide expos ...

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

band

Cobra Starship Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band founded in 2005 by Gabe Saporta (ex- Midtown), and headquartered in New York City. He recorded the first album as a solo project, ''While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets''. Saporta later enliste ...

, which disbanded in November 2015. Former guitarist Heath Saraceno joined the band

Senses Fail Senses Fail is an American rock band formed in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in 2001. Founded by vocalist James "Buddy" Nielsen, drummer Dan Trapp, guitarists Garrett Zablocki and Dave Miller, and bassist James Gill (replaced by Mike Glita shortly afte ...

in 2005 but decided to leave them in 2009 to pursue personal endeavors. Tyler Rann went on to sing for Band of Thieves with some friends but eventually left the music business and now works in the fashion/clothing industry.

Brief reunions

On February 17, 2014, Gabriel Saporta announced that Midtown has reunited and performed at the Skate and Surf Festival. On March 9, 2022, My Chemical Romance announced that Midtown would be a supporting act for the US leg of their reunion tour in fall 2022. As well as doing their own headlining shows for their 2022 Resurrection Tour, along with playing at the 2023 Adjacent beach festival in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

Members

– lead vocals, bass guitar (1998–2005, 2014, 2022-Present) * Tyler Rann – vocals, guitars (1998–2005, 2014, 2022-Present) * Heath Saraceno – vocals, guitars (1998–2005, 2014, 2022-Present) * Rob Hitt – drums, percussion (1998–2005, 2014, 2022-Present) * Benjamin Litchman – bass guitar (2023-Present)

Discography

Studio albums *'' Save the World, Lose the Girl'' (2000) *'' Living Well Is the Best Revenge'' (2002) *''

'' (2004) EPs *''The Sacrifice of Life'' (1999) *''Donots vs. Midtown Split 7"'' (2000) *''Millencolin/Midtown Split'' (2001) *''New.Old.Rare.'' (2002) *''We’re Too Old To Write New Songs, So Here’s Some Old Songs We Didn’t Write'' (2023) Compilation appearances *'' Rock Music: A Tribute to Weezer'' (2002; "Susanne" by

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

) *''Picking Up the Pieces'' (2003; acoustic version of "Living in Spite") *''Liberation (Songs to Benefit PETA)'' (2003; "This House Is Not a Home") *''

Punk Goes Acoustic ''Punk Goes Acoustic'' is the third album in the '' Punk Goes...'' series and the first installment in the ''Punk Goes Acoustic'' series created by Fearless Records. It contains a collection of both previously released and unreleased songs by vari ...

'' (2003; acoustic version of "Knew It All Along") *''

Punk Goes 80s ''Punk Goes 80's'' is the fourth in album in the '' Punk Goes...'' series created by Fearless Records. It contains covers of songs that were popular in the 1980s covered by various alternative rock, and pop punk bands. This is also the first album ...

'' (2005; cover of " Your Love" by

The Outfield The Outfield were an English rock band based in London, England. The band achieved success in the mid-1980s and are best remembered for their hit single, " Your Love". The band's lineup consisted of guitarist John Spinks, vocalist and bassist ...

)

Post-Midtown projects

became the new project of Midtown's bassist and lead singer,

. Their first single, "

Bring It (Snakes on a Plane) "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)", also referred to as "Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)", is the debut single by Cobra Starship, released in 2006 as the main single from the soundtrack to the film ''Snakes on a Plane''. In addition to Cobra Starship vo ...

", was featured on the soundtrack for the movie ''

Snakes on a Plane ''Snakes on a Plane'' is a 2006 American action film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006, in North America. The film was written by David Dalessandro, John Heffernan ...

''. Their first album, ''

While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets ''While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets'' is the debut studio album by Cobra Starship. It was released on October 10, 2006 in the US, and on October 17, 2006 in Canada. A rough clip of "Send My Love to the Dancefloor, I'll See You In Hell ...

'' came out October 2006, their second album ''

¡Viva La Cobra! ''¡Viva la Cobra!'' is the second studio album by Cobra Starship. The album was released on October 23, 2007. It was produced by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump, whose vocals also feature throughout the album. The album peaked at No. 80 on ''Bill ...

'' came out on October 23, 2007, their third album, ''

Hot Mess ''Hot Mess'' is the third studio album by the American musical ensemble Cobra Starship, released through Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records on August 11, 2009. The album is the follow-up to 2007's ''¡Viva la Cobra!''. It debuted at #4 on t ...

'', came out on August 11, 2009, and their fourth album, ''

Night Shades ''Night Shades'' is the fourth and final studio album by Cobra Starship, being released through Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records on August 29, 2011. The album is the follow-up to 2009's ''Hot Mess''. The first single from the album, " You ...

'', came out on August 29, 2011. The band ultimately broke up on November 10, 2015. * Heath Saraceno played guitar and shared vocal duties in the New Jersey-based rock band

until leaving the band after the 2009 Warped Tour. He and Senses Fail drummer, Dan Trapp, have a side-project called The Jettonnes. * Rob Hitt works for Crush Management and also has a record label, I Surrender Records. He shares the label with friend, Ted DiBiase, and has signed

I Am The Avalanche I Am the Avalanche is an American punk rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The group's name comes from a lyric written by Vinnie Caruana for a song which was later discarded. The phrase also appears in the poem ''"Oh, Immobility, Death's Vast Ass ...

Four Year Strong Four Year Strong is an American pop punk band from Worcester, Massachusetts, formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalists and guitarists Dan O'Connor and Alan Day, bassist Joe Weiss, and drummer Jake Massucco. They have released seven studio al ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, and

Dragonette Dragonette is the stage name of Canadian singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara. Originally an electronic music band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2005, the band consisted of Sorbara with her husband Dan Kurtz as bassist and producer (also in The ...

. * Tyler Rann works in the fashion/clothing industry.

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2005 Musical groups reestablished in 2014 Pop punk groups from New Jersey Drive-Thru Records artists MCA Records artists Columbia Records artists Musical quartets from New Jersey Golf Records artists Musical groups from New Brunswick, New Jersey