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Model Citizen
EP by
Meet Me at the Altar
ReleasedAugust 13, 2021
StudioRoye Robley (Hammond)
Genre
Length19:22
LabelFueled by Ramen
ProducerRoye Robley
Meet Me at the Altar chronology
Bigger Than Me
(2019) 		Model Citizen
(2021) 		Past // Present // Future
(2023)
Singles from Model Citizen
  1. "Feel a Thing"
    Released: June 16, 2021
  2. "Brighter Days (Are Before Us)"
    Released: July 30, 2021

Model Citizen is the fourth extended play by the American pop-punk band Meet Me at the Altar, released on August 13, 2021. It is the band's first release with the label Fueled by Ramen, whom they signed to in June 2020. Recorded with producer Roye Robley at his studio in Hammond, Indiana, it is a pop-punk and easycore release centered on themes of coming-of-age and self-improvement. The band wrote most of the EP's material a week before they were due in to their label.

Model Citizen received critical acclaim and was listed as one of the best EPs of 2021 by BrooklynVegan, Kerrang!, Loudwire and NME. The EP was supported by the singles "Feel a Thing" and "Brighter Days (Are Before Us)", and tours with Coheed and Cambria, The Used, nothing,nowhere and All Time Low. An acoustic version of the EP was released in March 2022.

Background and recording

[edit]

Meet Me at the Altar formed in 2015 by guitarist Téa Campbell and drummer Ada Juarez. Both members met online, after Campbell commented on a YouTube video of Juarez covering the Paramore song "All I Wanted".[1] Vocalist Edith Victoria joined the band in September 2017.[1][2] Meet Me at the Altar's first two releases with Victoria, the extended plays Changing States (2018) and Bigger than Me (2019), brought the band to the attention of Johnny Mirandi, the vice president of A&R at Elektra Music Group.[1] In May 2020, the band released the single "Garden", after which their profile rose rapidly.[2] At the urging of Dan Campbell of The Wonder Years and Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low, Mirandi signed Meet Me at the Altar to Fueled by Ramen in June 2020.[1] In October of that year, the members of Meet Me at the Altar moved into a house together in Florida;[1] by November, they were working on a new EP.[3][4]

Meet Me at the Altar were given seven to eight months to write Model Citizen.[5] Aside from Victoria and Campbell working together on lyrics, the band's members continued to write material individually before they came together with their parts; Campbell said that "instead of being states apart, we were just rooms apart".[6] In March 2021, Meet Me at the Altar released the single "Hit Like a Girl".[7] Although they had written material for an EP by then,[8] the band felt the need to match the single's energy and decided to write a more cohesive set of songs from scratch a week before they were due to hand the EP in to Fueled by Ramen; their new material showed heavier easycore influences.[2] "Mapped Out", "Brighter Days (Are Before Us)" and "Wake Up" were written during this period.[9] Juarez said that although she was worried when Victoria and Campbell decided to redo the EP, she trusted them and was confident that their songs would sound good.[10] The band recorded Model Citizen at the studio of producer and past collaborator Roye Robley in Hammond, Indiana.[8][11] Robley convinced them to keep "Never Gonna Change" on the EP.[12]

Composition and lyrics

[edit]

Model Citizen is a pop-punk[13][14] and easycore[15][16] release. Meet Me at the Altar described its sound as "heavy easycore";[17] Victoria said that the band aimed to combine their easycore sound with that of artists including Kelly Clarkson, Demi Lovato, Pink and Kesha.[18] Laviea Thomas of Clash described it as blending elements of easycore and punk with 2010s pop music.[19] Its songs juxtapose heavier elements with melodic ones,[20] and feature easycore-inspired breakdowns.[15][21] Lyrically, the EP is centered on themes of coming-of-age,[22] which the band's members found interesting as they all came of age during the COVID-19 pandemic,[23] and self-improvement.[2][18] Gigwise's Vicky Greer considered it a "portrait of the modern burdens that young people face".[24] In an interview with Spin, Campbell said that its overall message is to accept not being okay whilst still working to improve yourself and maintain hope for the future, "because that's what keeps literally everyone going."[2]

"Feel a Thing" opens with electronic notes reminiscent of 1980s video games, before moving into distorted guitar riffs matching the same notes, progressing into upbeat and optimistic vocals, large drum beats, and fast guitar work.[25] Tatiana Tenreyro of The A.V. Club highlighted the song's combination of heavier, nu metal-influenced guitars with a pop-punk styled chorus.[26] Its lyrics are about the need to obtain self-awareness in order to change things in one's life.[22] "Mapped Out" is about the uncertainty of young adulthood,[21] and directionlessless in life.[22] Kerrang! described it as "headbang-inducing".[20] "Brighter Days (Are Before Us)" is about staying optimistic about the future,[22] and was inspired by feelings of nostalgia during the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] Ashley Wolfgang of Them compared the song to Paramore's "For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic" in that they both "glorify the highs and lows of being a young person", but felt that Victoria was "committed to convincing herself that everything will work out in the end".[28] "Now or Never" begins with a 20-second drum and guitar solo[19] and combines "honey-sweet" vocals and soaring choruses with hard-hitting riffs.[20] Its lyrics detail a strained relationship[21] and ask the listener to decide whether they want to maintain it or move on.[22] "Never Gonna Change" presents a heavy emo sound[13] and is about taking accountability for one's own bad habits,[22] whilst "Wake Up" is about deciding to change and improve oneself.[22]

Release and promotion

[edit]

On June 16, 2021, Meet Me at the Altar announced Model Citizen and released "Feel a Thing" as its lead single.[26] An accompanying music video, themed around video games and arcades, was released concurrently.[29] An acoustic version, featuring Dan Campbell, was released on July 9.[30] "Brighter Days (Are Before Us)" was released as the EP's second single on July 30, 2021, alongside a music video directed by Sydney Ostrander.[31] Two days prior, the band performed both of the EP's singles and "Now or Never" for NME's "Home Sessions".[32] Model Citizen was released on August 13, 2021.[26] On October 8, 2021, Meet Me at the Altar released a music video for "Now or Never".[33] An acoustic version of Model Citizen was released on March 11, 2022.[34]

To promote the EP, Meet Me at the Altar toured as a supporting act on Coheed and Cambria and The Used's co-headling North America tour, from August 27 to September 19, 2021.[17][35] From September 21 to September 28, the band played their first shows in the United Kingdom opening for All Time Low.[36] Meet Me at the Altar played four shows with nothing,nowhere in early October 2021 before both bands joined as supporting acts for All Time Low on a tour of North America. Although the tour was due to end on November 12,[17] Meet Me at the Altar and nothing,nowhere split from the tour on October 27, after All Time Low was accused of sexual misconduct on social media;[37] the allegations were reported as false in 2024.[38] Both bands formed their own tour that lasted from October 28 to November 2, 2021.[37]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[39]
Metacritic85/100[40]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash9/10[19]
DIY[41]
Dork4/5[42]
Gigwise8/10[24]
Kerrang!4/5[20]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[21]
NME[13]
Sputnikmusic3.6/5[43]

On the review aggregator website Metacritic, Model Citizen holds a score of 85 out of 100, based on seven reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[40] Allie Gregory of Exclaim! said the EP "packs more ambition, power and energy into its rapid-fire 20-minute runtime than any pop-punk release in recent memory."[14] Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan felt the it displayed Meet Me at the Altar as "a band [...] [pushing] the genre forward, with a fresh perspective and a fresh sound".[16] Dork's Dan Harrison called its songs "razor-sharp future anthems that both recall the legends of pop-punk past, but also herald in a new, more fitting era."[42] NME's Jenessa Williams called the EP a "cohesive celebration of everything that is great about pop-punk", but said that "to constantly tie [Meet Me at the Altar] to the regrets of yesteryear is to deny what is painfully obvious; Model Citizen is the work of a band who are absolutely for the now".[13] Sputnikmusic staff reviewer Rowan5215 viewed the EP as neither a "challenging or boundary-breaking release" in the 2020s pop-punk revival when compared to KennyHoopla and Travis Barker's Survivor's Guilt: The Mixtape (2021), but nevertheless believed it would be enjoyable for fans of the genre.[43]

Gigwise's Greer praised Meet Me at the Altar's overall improvements from their previous output on Model Citizen and felt that its members' "technical prowess" made the band one of the best in the pop-punk scene.[24] Ben Tipple of DIY said the EP's songs were "boisterous as they are infectious",[41] whilst Thomas of Clash praised its catchiness and felt it displayed some of the band's best work to date.[19] Caleb Campbell of The Line of Best Fit praised the band's sincerity and songwriting though felt their "consistent upbeat[ness]" meant they were "largely operating repetitively throughout" the EP.[21] Paolo Ragusa of Consequence felt that Meet Me at the Altar succeeded in combininig "hardcore sensibilities with a modern pop twist" but at the same time were limited themselves through their "insistence" on combining pop-punk and easycore.[15] Jake Richardson of Kerrang! also acknowledged the lack of variation from the band's "core" sound but said: "[W]hen the songs just work and everything sounds so fun, it feels rather greedy to ask for more."[20]

Model Citizen was listed as the second-best EP of 2021 by Kerrang!,[44] with BrooklynVegan,[45] Loudwire,[46] and NME including it in their equivalent lists.[47] Autostraddle gave it an "honorable mention" on its list of 2021's "Best Albums Released by Queer and Trans Artists".[48]

Track listing

[edit]

All songs are written by Edith Victoria and Téa Campell.[49]

Model Citizen track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Feel a Thing"3:26
2."Mapped Out"2:50
3."Brighter Days (Are Before Us)"3:03
4."Now or Never"3:21
5."Never Gonna Change"3:31
6."Wake Up"3:10
Total length:19:22

Personnel

[edit]

Personnel per Tidal.[49]

  • Edith Victoria - vocals
  • Téa Campbell - guitar, bass
  • Ada Juarez - drums
  • Roye Robley - production, mixing, mastering

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Staff, Billboard (October 9, 2020). "Meet Me at The Altar Formed Online and Wrote Songs By Text. Now the Punk Trio Is Signed to Fueled By Ramen: Exclusive". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e Kaplan, Ilana (August 12, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar Are the Role Models They Always Wanted". Spin. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  3. ^ McCarthy, Lauren (November 19, 2020). "Meet Me @ The Altar Is The Future Of Pop-Punk". Nylon. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  4. ^ Young, Amy (November 2, 2020). "Here's how Meet Me @ The Altar are changing the landscape of pop-punk". Alternative Press Magazine. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  5. ^ Zarek 2022b, 3:05–3:11.
  6. ^ Zarek 2022a, 2:28–3:18.
  7. ^ Carter, Emily (March 22, 2021). "Meet Me @ the Altar share anthemic new single, Hit Like a Girl". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Meet Me @ The Altar". Live Nation. May 22, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  9. ^ Zarek 2022b, 3:13–4:04.
  10. ^ Zarek 2022b, 4:17–4:35.
  11. ^ Zarek 2022a, 1:45–1:56.
  12. ^ Zarek 2022b, 4:04–4:17.
  13. ^ a b c d Williams, Jenessa (August 11, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar – 'Model Citizen' EP review: pop-punkers refine the genre's signature moves". NME. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Gregory, Allie (September 14, 2021). "The Sound of September 2021: This Month's Essential New Releases". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c Ragusa, Paolo (August 12, 2021). "Meet Me @ the Altar Rewrite the Handbook on Easycore and Pop-Punk With Model Citizen EP". Consequence. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  16. ^ a b Sacher, Andrew (August 13, 2021). "Notable Releases of the Week (8/13)". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  17. ^ a b c Gregory, Allie (June 16, 2021). "Meet Me @ the Altar Announce 'Model Citizen' EP, Plot North American Tour". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  18. ^ a b Shutler, Ali (September 29, 2021). "Meet Me At The Altar are the band giving pop-punk a much-needed makeover". Louder. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d Thomas, Laviea (August 13, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar - Model Citizen". Clash. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  20. ^ a b c d e Richardson, Jake (August 10, 2021). "EP review: Meet Me @ The Altar - Model Citizen ― Kerrang!". Kerrang!. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  21. ^ a b c d e Campbell, Caleb (August 11, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar - Model Citizen". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g Sun, Curtis (August 13, 2021). "Meet Me @ the Altar break down new EP Model Citizen track by track: Exclusive". Consequence. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  23. ^ Thomas, Laviea (September 7, 2021). "Model Citizens: The Inspired Rise Of Meet Me @ The Altar". Clash. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  24. ^ a b c Greer, Vicky (August 16, 2021). "EP Review: Meet Me @ The Altar- Model Citizen". Gigwise. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  25. ^ Linzinmeir, Taylor (June 16, 2021). "Meet Me @ the Altar Release "Feel a Thing" Ahead of 'Model Citizen' EP". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  26. ^ a b c Tenreyro, Tatiana (June 16, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar announce their first EP under Fueled By Ramen". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 10, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  27. ^ Raza-Sheikh, Zoya (August 12, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar are rewriting the pop punk rulebook". GAY TIMES. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  28. ^ Carey, Emma (August 20, 2021). "New Music Friday: Kari Faux, Lotic, Perfume Genius, More". Them. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  29. ^ Scarlett, Elizabeth (June 16, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar announce new EP and drop cheerful single Feel A Thing". Louder. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  30. ^ Carter, Emily (July 9, 2021). "The Wonder Years' Dan Campbell joins Meet Me @ The Altar for acoustic version of Feel A Thing". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  31. ^ "Meet Me @ The Altar share 'Brighter Days (Are Before Us)'". DIY. July 30, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  32. ^ Mylrea, Hannah (July 28, 2021). "Watch Meet Me @ The Altar perform 'Feel A Thing', 'Now Or Never' and 'Brighter Days (Are Before Us)' for NME Home Sessions". NME. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  33. ^ Lavin, Will (October 8, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar announce UK tour and share video for new single 'Now Or Never'". NME. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  34. ^ Carter, Emily (March 11, 2022). "Meet Me @ The Altar share Model Citizen acoustic EP". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  35. ^ Carter, Emily (June 16, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar announce Model Citizen EP; share glorious new single Feel A Thing". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  36. ^ Carter, Emily (June 29, 2021). "All Time Low announce UK tour supports for September". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  37. ^ a b Childers, Chad (October 27, 2021). "Meet Me @ the Altar + Nothing, Nowhere Exit All Time Low Tour After Allegations Against Band". Loudwire. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  38. ^ Dillon, Nancy (November 9, 2024). "All Time Low Drops Libel Lawsuit But Says Probe Found 'Smear Campaign'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 9, 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  39. ^ "Model Citizen by Meet Me @ The Altar reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  40. ^ a b "Model Citizen [EP] by Meet Me @ the Altar Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  41. ^ a b Tipple, Ben (August 12, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar - Model Citizen". DIY. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  42. ^ a b Harrison, Dan (August 18, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar - Model Citizen EP". Dork. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  43. ^ a b Rowan5215 (August 16, 2021). "Meet Me @ The Altar - Model Citizen (album review )". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 14, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  44. ^ "The 10 best EPs of 2021". Kerrang!. December 22, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  45. ^ Sacher, Andrew. "40 Great Punk EPs, Splits & Singles from 2021". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on March 25, 2025. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  46. ^ "The 15 Best Rock + Metal EPs of 2021". Loudwire. December 22, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  47. ^ Williams, Sophie (December 14, 2021). "The 20 best EPs and mixtapes of 2021". NME. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  48. ^ Jones, Abbie (December 21, 2021). "Queer Your Ears: Ten of the Best Albums Released by Queer and Trans Artists in 2021". Autostraddle. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  49. ^ a b "Model Citizen / Meet Me @ The Altar / Credits". Tidal. Retrieved April 10, 2025.

AV sources

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