Masked Intruder

Although the members of Masked Intruder keep their identities hidden under ski masks, the mysterious band's sugary sweet pop-punk shows that they wear their hearts on their sleeves. Calling Madison, Wisconsin, home, the quartet rose in the early 2010s, label-hopping between <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Red+Scare%22">Red Scare</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fat+Wreck%22">Fat Wreck</a> for their first two LPs, which were interspersed with a healthy number of EPs and split singles. Eventually settling in with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pure+Noise+Records%22">Pure Noise Records</a>, they returned with the Billboard-charting III in 2019.

Claiming to have formed in jail, the band -- who go by the anonymous handles Intruder Blue (vocals, guitar), Intruder Green (guitar, vocals), Intruder Yellow (bass), and Intruder Red (drums) -- have a sound that finds them adding a criminal edge to their yearning melodies, evoking the Bay Area pop-punk of bands like <a href="spotify:artist:7oPftvlwr6VrsViSDV7fJY">Green Day</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3X5CCGAfbZKLPHnfMxc3Lp">the Mr. T Experience</a>. Masked Intruder made their debut with a self-titled album released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Red+Scare+Industries%22">Red Scare Industries</a> in 2012. A series of split singles followed over the next year, including The Wedding 7" with <a href="spotify:artist:7qjrGisRIP2Ezo6z3ioL0L">Dan Vapid and the Cheats</a> and Red Scare Across America with <a href="spotify:artist:69bnISFWUBXKydoGSkshAq">Elway</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:35Ttuqkuxvx0dQydql5yBj">Sam Russo</a>.

In 2013, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fat+Wreck+Chords%22">Fat Wreck Chords</a> signed Masked Intruder and reissued their debut, followed the next year by their sophomore effort, M.I. The band's time with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fat+Wreck%22">Fat Wreck</a> would prove to be short-lived; in 2016, they moved over to another California stalwart, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pure+Noise+Records%22">Pure Noise Records</a>, and released the EP Love and Other Crimes. The group's third outing, simply titled III, appeared in 2019 and featured production from Roger Lima (<a href="spotify:artist:20oQv3LStCKCjI9oQ0JNha">Less Than Jake</a>) and Mike Kennerty (<a href="spotify:artist:3vAaWhdBR38Q02ohXqaNHT">the All-American Rejects</a>). It cracked the Top Ten of Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart and warranted a deluxe version, released in 2020 as III Turbo. 2022 marked the tenth anniversary of Masked Intruder's self-titled debut album, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Red+Scare%22">Red Scare</a> honored it with a special Record Store Day vinyl reissue. ~ Gregory Heaney, Rovi