More than anything, music can affect the way we feel, the way we think and the way we party. Few musicians realize this power more than Midtown.

Midtown plays the kind of music that you can listen to while doing homework to mellow out. They play the kind of music that you listen to while getting psyched to go out. And Midtown plays the kind of music that can get a crowd jumping and screaming and singing along.

Midtown is often compared to bands like Saves the Day, Blink 182 and A New Found Glory, but the band would rather not classify its style. Bass player and main songwriter Gabe Saporta said “We’re just rock ‘n’ roll. I think genres are important because you want to try to explain what something is in words, but the problem with that is it pigeonholes you into some kind of classification, and if you want to do something different you can’t do it. So we just like to say rock ‘n’ roll so we give ourselves the liberty to do whatever we want. We just want to rock.”

Midtown’s first public release, “Save the World, Lose the Girl,” was found in stores in February 2000. None of the tracks on that album were aired on radio and it is more difficult to find in stores than the band’s newest release, “Living Well is the Best Revenge.” “Living Well” was released in April and is incredible. Radio stations have recently gotten a hold of the amazing album and Midtown’s first single, “Like a Movie,” which hit airwaves on August 26.

Saporta was awe-struck when he first heard himself on the radio. “It was really surreal, you know?” he said. “We don’t really know what to make of it and it’s kind of cool and it’s also kind of weird. It’s awesome, we appreciate the support from the radio, but then it’s like you’re entering into this whole other realm where music becomes a business and it’s not about what you started off to do.”

“Living Well” is a release worth checking out. The style may not be for everyone, but the lyrical genius behind the songs is extraordinary, illustrating the pain, confusion, fury and heartache that life brings.

“Our lyrics aren’t political per se,” noted Saporta. “They’re more about personal politics, about being true to yourself – returning to a sense of honesty you don’t see much anymore.”

On Sept. 12, Midtown began The Best Revenge Tour with Taking Back Sunday and Recover.

“This tour is the best tour we’ve ever done. All the bands in this tour are amazing,” says Saporta.

Midtown took on Philadelphia on last Friday at The Trocadero as part of the tour. Pittsburgh, Chicago and Detroit are just a few of the future stops along the tour.