Stoitsiadis’s parents wanted him to get a degree, which meant avoiding big tours. They’re making up for it now, though, by embarking on a 13-date midwest-into-East-Coast tour alongside Microwave, Save Face, and Elder Brother, followed by an 8-day West Coast run opening for Joyce Manor. The dudes of Dogleg pitched the booking agency Ground Control, saying: “We know you book for Joyce Manor and Title Fight, and we love those bands. We should play together at one point.” Ground Control, to the band’s surprise, enthusiastically agreed.

Despite all this talk of current emo and pop-punk bands, Stoitsiadis is quick to offer a disclaimer: “We don’t really like to only listen to emo.” They all agree, name-dropping Refused and The Strokes almost in the same sentence, trying to break out of the box that critics have inevitably put them in. Macinski also offers “That one Killers album” as an inspiration.

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Dogleg's lyrics, though, are nowhere near the slow buzz of Hot Fuss. On Melee's dispirited fifth track, “Headfirst,” Stoitsiadis sings: “I’m holding on for dear life / Dangling by the edge of your knife,” in between his wails of the one-sentence chorus: “Time will let you down.” But when I use the adjectives “dismal” and “depressing” to describe their lyrics, they all break out into a laugh that sounds simultaneously embarrassed and proud. And when I ask what elicits this angst, there’s a long pause. “I’ve had depression and anxiety for a long time,” Stoitsiadis says, eventually. Giggles still sound from the other end, because today — especially in emo culture — there is nothing surprising about this, and there’s not much to say about it either. “This is, I guess, the best way to express it," he continues. "A lot of shitty things have happened in my life, so this is the way it manifests. I don’t really like talking about it directly. I create metaphors behind it and create allusions to it and make it more symbolic.”