Light Years Announce New Album

Cleveland, OH based Pop-Punk unit, Light Years have weaved their way through the scene for nearly the last decade. Formed by vocalist Pat Kennedy, he enlisted in Tommy Englert, Andrew Foerst and Kent Sliney to round out the group in 2009. The band has toured with heavy-hitters like Neck Deep, State Champs, Modern Baseball, Citizen and Turnover, with appearances on The Vans Warped Tour and So What?! Music Festival. Today they are ecstatic to give fans a sneak peek at their forthcoming record, Afterlife, due out November 30th via Rude Records. The 11-track masterpiece was recorded and produced by Will Yip (who also produced the band’s 2015 classic, I’ll See You When I See You) and features their debut single “Back Then.”

“Back Then” is a unique throwback video which features footage from the band growing up. The song has a classic simple rock and roll vibe melded with some new school punk rock elements. Lyrically the song was written about the band’s first time on the road, which was between high school and college and sets the tone sonically for the record. Lead vocalist, Pat Kennedy had this to say about how much Afterlife means to him:

“Afterlife is where Light Years has been heading for the past 8 years. We spent more time on this record than anything we have done before and I think it shows. We tried new sounds and ideas that before we would have never thought to do, or been willing to try, which I think only comes from the maturity you get from being in a band for so many years. We hope people like this record as much as we do, but if they don’t, we really don’t care.”

Light Years formed in 2009 and consists of Pat Kennedy, Tommy Englert, Andrew Foerst and Kent Sliney. The pop-punk powerhouses kicked off with This Will Come Back to Haunt Me EP in 2010 before they hit the road on their first full US tour with Pentimento. They spent the year celebrating their debut, touring the country and eventually hitting Europe also with Pentimento. On March 10, 2012 they unleashed Just Between Us… with Escapist and hit the road with Citizen and Turnover. In 2013, the band signed with Paper + Plastick and unveiled Parking Lots, Trying To Be.. and their debut full-length I Won’t Hold This Against You, whichfeatured “Parking Lots,” “Deadlines,” and “Uphill Battles.” They spent the remainder of the year touring with Mixtapes, You Blew It!, Modern Baseball, and Safe. In 2014 they joined The Acoustic Basement Tour, hosted by the Vans Warped Tour before releasing Acoustics also with Paper + Plastick. In the same year, they hit the road with Neck Deep and Knuckle Puck, with a performance on South by So What?! Music Festival in Dallas, TX, leading to a summer-run on The Vans Warped Tour. Within the same year, they signed with Animal Style and launched Temporary EP. Never slowing down the band signed a worldwide deal with independent label, Rude Records in 2015 and released their sophomore full-length, produced by Will Yip, entitled I’ll See You When I See You featuring “Living In Hell” and “Are You Sure?” Celebrating the success of their release, the band hit the road with Neck Deep and State Champs in the UK before heading back to the states for a tour with Four Year Strong and Can’t Swim. To continue the excitement, the band unleashed Lite Years, a 4-track acoustic EP providing new renditions of their favorite songs from I’ll See You When I See You adding layers of different instrumentations and arrangements, as well as a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s classic hit, “Atlantic City.” In 2018, Light Years is back with an exhilarating new record, Afterlife, which is due out November 30th, via Rude Records featuring their debut, “Back Then.”