Always Grounded

Always Grounded started where a lot of good bands start: with two brothers and an acoustic guitar. RJ Dionne, singer and sometime amateur wrestler, and his brother Eli built the early bones of the project in central Connecticut before expanding into a full five-piece band. Their first EP, "Far From Perfect," announced a group shaped by the late 2000s pop-punk wave and the harder edges of easycore, with Four Year Strong and Neck Deep as clear reference points that the band has worn openly and built from deliberately.

Alternative Press took early notice, including Always Grounded on a list of fifty up-and-coming pop-punk bands and later naming them among thirteen acts revitalizing the genre in 2021. Connected with Ghost Killer Entertainment, the band has built a catalog of increasingly confident releases that reflect a clear-eyed approach to songwriting: infectious melodic hooks matched with hard-hitting rhythms, verses that earn their choruses, and a commitment to energy that never tips into exhaustion.

The self-titled record placed tracks like "Carry On" at the center of what the band does best, combining momentum with moments of genuine feeling. The "Midnight Drive" EP expanded that range, and the title track has become one of the band's most resonant songs. There is something in its directness that locates exactly where pop-punk is most effective: late-night music that gives people something to hold onto when they need it. Singles like "Rocky Hill" and "When I'm Gone" maintained the band's presence between larger releases and showed songwriting instincts continuing to sharpen.

The "Never Bring a Nerf Gun to a Knife Fight" EP is their most recent work, and its title track gives the band's sensibility its clearest expression: self-aware, committed to the craft, and built for maximum impact on both the first listen and the tenth. The humor in the title does not undercut the sincerity of the music, which is a balance not every band can maintain. Always Grounded manage it because the songs are well-constructed enough to carry whatever they bring to them.

Connecticut has produced its share of bands who made noise far beyond its borders, and Always Grounded carry that regional tradition with real intention. The songwriting has grown tighter with every release, the production has kept pace, and the band's instinct for what makes a pop-punk song work remains sharp. There is more to come from a group that has already demonstrated they know how to build something worth paying attention to.