saturdays at your place with Retirement Party, Kerosene Heights

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There’s something kinda magical about naming your band saturdays at your place. Right off the bat, it calls to mind images of collapsing onto a friend’s couch at the end of a long week, and the kind of nights that turn into stories you’ll tell for years to come. For the band from Kalamazoo, Michigan, it’s more than just a name; it’s what’s held them together through college and the strange process of becoming an adult. Whether unpacking tour burnout or the shame of outgrowing your past, they’re constantly rejecting irony in favor of something much bolder: sincerity.
On their upcoming second full-length, these things happen (out September 12), saturdays at your place take everything that made their early material resonate—twinkly guitars, heart-on-sleeve songwriting, a distinctly Midwestern ache—and stretch it into something even more resonant. It’s a record about growing up without growing cold, and it’s also a testament to where they’re from, both literally and musically; proof that a band with strong hometown roots can still shake the ground.
Formed by three friends who met at Western Michigan University, the band—Esden Stafne (vocals/bass), Gabe Wood (vocals/drums), and Mitch Gulish (guitar)—have always used music as a way to map the wretched trajectory of growing up. But on these things happen, they’ve stopped asking for directions and started finding their own way through the chaos. The result is a heartfelt, emotionally chaotic and self-aware glimpse at adulthood in all its many complexities. A lot of inspiration for the record came from Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 film, Magnolia. In the movie, strangers' lives collide in a grand way, for no reason. There’s no greater meaning to unfold, just happenstance, and similarly, the album doesn’t offer listeners any new information on what to do once you’ve ascended into adulthood; it simply provides a more relatable cushion.

Channeling the gut-punch angst of bands like Modern Baseball and Hot Mulligan, lead single “waste away” is a standout moment about both wishing you were dead AND remembering how much fun life can be, too. Elsewhere, “what am I supposed to do?” finds the band reflecting on individuality and people-pleasing; and “I’d rather be in michigan” is an attempt to capture the struggle of finding stability amidst a nonstop tour cycle.

Then there’s the gut-wrenching closing track, “i give in.” A cinematic portrayal of codependency and trauma, it wraps the album in a sort of quiet comfort, one that comes to terms with the shared weight of what we all carry in our day-to-day lives.
“I wanted to write that song for a long time,” Gabe says. “I’ve never felt like I was the right person to offer any sort of unique perspective on that kind of situation, I really didn’t want to get it wrong. But being open and honest about it is actually what I needed to finally let go and forgive and move on.”

The hype for saturdays at your place first kicked off with their 2023 EP, always cloudy, and has since blossomed into a steadily-building wave of momentum. “tarot cards” instantly had fans on the hook with its undeniable melody and quirky pronunciation, but the entire record has since gone on to cement their place as one of the most exciting modern emo bands around. And while always cloudy was a strong introduction, these things happen marks a decidedly more introspective future for saturdays at your place; it’s also the first music they’ve released since 2023.

Overall, these things happen isn’t an album that provides many answers. Instead, it’s a cathartic companion to survival with friends at your side, gear in the trailer, and enough hope to keep showing up. For saturdays at your place, that’s enough.