After a break following “Devolution,” Burlington-based songwriter John Tomasevich reemerges with “Manic Destructive,” a full-length that stitches together songs from different periods of his life. Some are new, some revisited, some reshaped from earlier versions, but all tied together by lyrics that still feel current — whether about personal battles or the broader political climate. What began as ten songs eventually settled into eight, a balance between fresh material and past tracks reworked to fit the present.
The sound of the record comes from a conscious decision to keep things minimal. “This record is the definition of K.I.S.S (keep it simple, stupid),” Tomasevich explains, describing how producer Scotty Sandwich helped strip away unnecessary layers. The reference point was Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska,” admired for its raw and haunting atmosphere. “At the end of the day, I love when a record sounds real, which I’m eternally grateful that Scotty has helped me achieve.”
Themes across the album pull directly from lived experiences: addiction, sobriety, disillusionment, and political despair. The opening track “Manic” channels nights spent working third shift while trying to stay sober, watching “crazy stuff from drunken patrons” and later sweeping up the parking lot. “Conned the World” circles back to lessons from AA meetings, where the recurring theme of amends made Tomasevich realize how many people he had hurt along the way. In “The Regression,” written the day after Trump’s election, the lyrics still carry the same weight years later, reflecting continued frustration with the state of the country.
Old songs aren’t just recycled but reframed. “Only in Passing,” previously on “Devolution,” was rearranged with input from Scotty into something he “absolutely fell in love with.” “No Kings” began under a different name but remains rooted in John Mellencamp influence and frustration with a political system that feels broken, written during furlough and unemployment in the early days of COVID. Even “I Made This,” once a loud punk track, was transformed into a ballad. “I never imagined this song as a ballad and it turned into one of my favorite songs on the record,” he notes, adding that it was written about the birth of his daughter, with the title suggested by his wife.
The closing track “Destructive” works as a coda to “Manic,” framed as a breakup letter to alcohol. At first, Tomasevich almost abandoned it. “I lost interest in it for a while because I felt it was a real downer and too personal,” he admits. But revisiting it, and hearing Scotty’s improvised guitar solo at the end, gave the piece new life.
Taken as a whole, “Manic Destructive” wrestles with addiction, broken systems, and the personal fallout of both. The stripped-down production leaves those themes exposed without embellishment, making the songs feel immediate and unresolved.
Read the full track-by-track commentary from John Tomasevich below.
MANIC
I still don’t really know where the title MANIC DESTRUCTIVE came from. It fits with the theme of the record, but I really think it just sounded cool. The keyboard in the song is my homage to Clarity by Jimmy Eat World. This is one of the new songs that’s actually been written for a while. I was working third shift at my job and witnessing some crazy stuff from drunken patrons, which was difficult to experience because I was in the middle of trying to get sober. The line “sweep up the damages in disgust” comes from literally sweeping up my job’s parking lot at night from all the trash/debauchery that went on.
THE MANAGEMENT
This is one of the first songs I wrote when I started doing solo stuff. It’s basically a giant fuck you to record companies. When I was younger I dreamed about going on tour forever and making it big. As I got older, I realized that 1. that was never going to happen and 2. I didn’t want it to happen. I just wanted to write songs as a way to cope with life. I’m happy I came to this realization finally.
CONNED THE WORLD
This is the newest song I wrote for the record and a good majority of it was from going to AA meetings (the recurring theme of “amends”). I was in a bad place addiction wise and after going to these meetings for a while, I realized that while maybe not intentional: I have hurt/conned a lot of people because of my actions/behavior. I really like the line “asked for forgiveness, but myself, I cannot”.
ONLY IN PASSING
This was a song that was on my last record “DEVOLUTION”. Scotty sent me this arrangement for this and I absolutely fell in love with it. The songs about Breonna Taylor (in the vain of a love song that has a tragic end).
NO KINGS
This song was on “DEVOLUTION” as well, but under a different name. This is probably one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. Sound wise, it’s an homage to John Mellencamp, who is one of my biggest inspirations of doing solo stuff. I wrote the lyrics during the COVID epidemic and when I was furloughed from my job (hence the line about the unemployment website crashed again). I feel the lyrics are still appropriate in this day and age for our political climate, hence the name No Kings.
THE REGRESSION
This was an old song I wrote the day after Donald Trump was elected president for the first time. I was sitting at a bar just dumbfounded and wrote most of the basis of the lyrics down in the notes section of my phone. Again: still feel these lyrics mean the same (if not more) today given the state of our country.
I MADE THIS
This was an old song that was on a record I did and it was a fast, loud punk song (with a full band arrangement). Scotty sent me an idea for this and I was floored. I never imagined this song as a ballad and it turned into one of my favorite songs on the record. I wrote the lyrics about the birth of my daughter. My wife came up with the title.
DESTRUCTIVE
This is basically the coda to the song “Manic”. It’s basically a break up letter to alcohol. I really liked the song at first, but for some reason, I lost interest in it for a while because I felt it was a real downer and too personal. I knew I wanted to end the record with this song, but felt it needed something (wasn’t listening to Scotty and the K.I.S.S mentality). I recorded it as is and after I listened to the final version of it, it’s really grown on me. The little guitar solo at the end is Scotty. He made it up on the spot. He’s a genius.
