One Step Closer (band)

Last updated

One Step Closer
One Step Closer.jpg
One Step Closer performing in 2022
Background information
Origin Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres
Years active2016–present
Labels
Members
  • Ryan Savitski
  • Ross Thompson
  • Tommy Norton
  • Colman O'Brien
Past members
  • Brian Talipan
  • Grady Allen
  • Tom Pisano
  • Caleb Hartnett
Website onestepcloserxxx.bandcamp.com

One Step Closer is an American straight edge hardcore punk band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. [1] The band is currently signed to Run for Cover Records. [2] The band was one of Stereogum's "Bands To Watch" [3] The band's debut album, This Place You Know, was released in 2021 to positive reviews. [4] BrooklynVegan calls them "one of the most exciting new bands in hardcore". [5]

Contents

Musical style and influences

One Step Closer's earliest music was a part of the youth crew revival of the 2010s, with music largley inspired by Turning Point. [6]

By the 2020s, they had shifted their sound towards melodic hardcore. [7] [8] Their influences were Turning Point, Inside Out, Title Fight, Blink-182, Green Day, [7] Have Heart, Bane, [9] Sunny Day Real Estate, the Get-Up Kids, Box Car Racer, the Cure [10] and Mineral. [11] Upset Magazine writer Rob Mair described their music of this era as merging "classic DC emo with youth crew passion and late 90s melodic hardcore approachability to create a sound inspired by hardcore's past but beholden to no single scene." [12] At this time, they made use of elements of indie rock, [12] post-hardcore and shoegaze. [11]

On All You Embrace (2024), they shifted their sound towards emo grunge [13] and emo. [14] At this time, their influences were Basement, Title Fight, Deftones, Jawbreaker, [15] Oasis, True Widow, Failure, the Smashing Pumpkins, Rival Schools, the Cure and Mock Orange. [16] Of this era, Savitzki said that the members "have always been leaning into the emo-core sound. We are finally taking the bigger step into what we’ve been wanting to do for a while now." [17] Punknews noted the album as similar to the emo and screamo artists involved in the wave. [18]

Members

Current

Former members

Live members

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

References

  1. ↑ Mair, Rob. "One Step Closer: "The whole record is sad"". Upset Magazine. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  2. ↑ Sacher, Andrew (June 15, 2021). "One Step Closer sign to Run For Cover for debut album 'This Place You Know'". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  3. ↑ Cohen, Ian (September 7, 2021). "Band To Watch: One Step Closer". Stereogum. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  4. ↑ Breihan, Tom (September 24, 2021). "Stream One Step Closer's Stunning Debut Album This Place You Know". Stereogum. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  5. ↑ Sacher, Andrew (July 29, 2021). "One Step Closer interview: one of the most exciting new bands in hardcore talks debut LP". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  6. ↑ Stewart, Ethan (February 19, 2025). "Melodic Hardcore's Stunning Mid-2020s Resurgence » PopMatters". PopMatters . Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "ONE STEP CLOSER: MEET PENNSYLVANIA CREW LEADING MELODIC HARDCORE'S NEW WAVE". Revolver . July 14, 2021. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Redrup, Zach. "NEWS: One Step Closer release new song, 'Pringle Street'!". Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  9. ↑ Enis, Eli (June 28, 2021). "ONE STEP CLOSER: SEE HARDCORE UPSTARTS WILD OUT IN NEW "PRINGLE STREET" VIDEO". Revolver . Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  10. ↑ Sacher, Andrew. "One Step Closer interview: one of the most exciting new bands in hardcore talks debut LP". BrooklynVegan . Retrieved February 17, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Baines, Huw. "MEET ONE STEP CLOSER: THE BAND COMBINING POST-HARDCORE MELODIES WITH SHOEGAZE FERVOUR". BandLab Technologies. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  12. 1 2 Mair, Rob. "One Step Closer: "The whole record is sad"". Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  13. ↑ Sacher, Andrew. "New songs: Khruangbin, FKA twigs, Cloud Nothings, Efterklang, more". BrooklynVegan . Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  14. ↑ Deutschland, Solingen. "Interview ONE STEP CLOSER". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  15. ↑ Mack, Emmy (May 21, 2024). "One Step Closer Deep-Dive Into The Makings Of New LP 'All You Embrace' & What It Means To Be A Hardcore Kid". Music Feeds. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
  16. ↑ LESUER, MIKE. "One Step Closer's "All You Embrace" Influences Playlist". FLOOD. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Interview: One Step Closer on Newfound Sound". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  18. ↑ "One Step Closer - All You Embrace". www.punknews.org. May 22, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  19. ↑ Heasley, Ellis (July 10, 2023). "FESTIVAL REVIEW: Outbreak Fest 2023". Distorted Sound Magazine. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
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