Pop-punk is a fickle beast. One minute you're the king of MySpace, and the next, you're a trivia question for people who still own checkered Vans. A Change of Pace occupied that weird, electric space in the mid-2000s where it felt like they were exactly one hit song away from becoming the next Fall Out Boy or Panic! At The Disco. They had the look. They had the hooks. Most importantly, they had a lead singer in Torry Jasper who could actually pivot between a melodic croon and a raw, post-hardcore scream without it sounding like a gimmick.
But if you look back at the trajectory of the band from Peoria, Arizona, it’s a masterclass in how the music industry can be both a launchpad and a cage.
The Rise of A Change of Pace and the "Prepare the Ground" Era
Signing to Immortal Records was a massive deal back then. You have to remember that Immortal was the house that Korn built; it was a label with real pedigree. When A Change of Pace dropped An Offer You Can't Refuse in 2005, the scene was already getting crowded. Every kid with a side-fringe and a guitar was trying to play three chords and talk about their hometown.
A Change of Pace was different. They weren't just "pop" punk. Songs like "Loose Lips Sink Ships" had this aggressive, driving energy that felt more sophisticated than the bubblegum stuff coming out of the suburbs.
People forget how much "Loose Lips Sink Ships" dominated early digital spaces. It wasn't just a song; it was a personality trait for a certain subset of teenagers in 2005. The production, handled by Stephen McGrath, was polished but retained enough grit to keep them on the Warped Tour circuit without looking like sellouts. Honestly, the band was incredibly young. We’re talking about guys who were barely out of high school when they started touring with heavyweights like The Used and My Chemical Romance. That kind of pressure changes a group. It forces you to grow up in public, and sometimes, you grow in different directions.
The Nuance of the Sophomore Slump
Then came Prepare the Ground in 2006.
This is where things got complicated for the A Change of Pace legacy. Most bands in their position would have doubled down on the "Loose Lips" formula. They would have written ten more songs about high school drama and betrayal. Instead, they got heavy. They got experimental. They brought in darker textures and more complex arrangements.
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Some fans hated it. Others thought it was a masterpiece of "maturation." It’s sort of the classic dilemma—if you stay the same, you’re boring; if you change, you’re a traitor. The album didn't move the needle the way the label likely hoped, and the internal friction started to show. You could hear it in the music. It was more ambitious, sure, but it lacked that lightning-in-a-bottle cohesion of the debut.
The Vocalist Swap: A Death Knell or a New Beginning?
Torry Jasper leaving the band in 2008 was the moment everything shifted.
Replacing a frontman is almost always a suicide mission in the alternative scene. Think about it. The voice is the identity. When Torry exited, the band brought in Micah Bentley. Now, Micah is a phenomenal singer—let’s be clear about that. His voice is soulful, clean, and has a completely different range. But he wasn't Torry.
The 2011 release of It Comes Naturally felt like a completely different band. It was lighter. It was more "indie-pop" than "post-hardcore."
- The riffs were gone.
- The screaming was non-existent.
- The aesthetic shifted from black hoodies to flannels and sunshine.
Fans of the first album were baffled. If you walked into a room playing It Comes Naturally without knowing who it was, you would never guess it was the same group that wrote "Death Do Us Part." It’s an interesting case study in branding. Had they released that album under a different name, it might have been a massive indie success. But by keeping the name A Change of Pace, they were fighting against their own shadow.
Why They Still Matter in the 2020s Nostalgia Wave
You’d think a band that essentially went quiet over a decade ago would be forgotten.
Actually, the opposite is happening.
With the massive resurgence of "Emo Nite" culture and festivals like When We Were Young, A Change of Pace has seen a legitimate streaming second wind. There is a specific "Arizona Sound" from that era—think The Maine, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and Greeley Estates—that has a cult-like following. A Change of Pace is the glue in that scene.
They weren't just a local band; they were the ones who proved that Arizona could produce a national act that wasn't Jimmy Eat World.
Debunking the "One Hit Wonder" Label
It’s easy to look at the numbers and say they were a one-hit-wonder band because of "Loose Lips Sink Ships." That's a lazy take.
If you actually dig into their discography, you see a band that was constantly wrestling with their musical identity. They were too pop for the hardcore kids and too hardcore for the pop kids. In the streaming era, that "in-between" status is actually a benefit because it allows them to fit into a dozen different curated playlists.
Their influence is hidden in the DNA of modern "hyper-pop" and "emo-rap." The way they blended melodic hooks with sudden bursts of aggression is a blueprint that artists like MGK (in his pop-punk phase) or KennyHoopla use daily. They were doing the "genre-fluid" thing before there was a buzzword for it.
The Reality of the "Final" Reunion
When the original lineup reunited for a few shows around 2012 and then again for the 10th anniversary of An Offer You Can't Refuse, it wasn't about the money.
There wasn't some massive corporate tour deal. It was Peoria kids playing for Peoria fans. That’s the most "human" part of the A Change of Pace story. They didn't end in a massive, litigious explosion like some of their peers. They just... finished.
Torry went on to work on other projects, including a brief stint with a band called Dogwood Lane. Micah Bentley carved out a very respectable lane for himself in the indie and worship music worlds. Jonathan Brinn, the bassist, stayed active in the industry. They all became adults.
Navigating the A Change of Pace Catalog Today
If you’re coming to this band for the first time because a TikTok algorithm threw a 15-second clip of a bridge at you, don’t just hit "shuffle."
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You have to listen chronologically to understand the tragedy and the triumph of the band. Start with the 2003 EP Change Is The Only Constant. It’s raw. It’s unpolished. It sounds like a garage band that knows they’re about to be famous.
Then, move to An Offer You Can't Refuse. This is the peak. This is the record that defines the 2005-2006 aesthetic. "A Song the World Can Sing Out Loud" isn't just a title; it was a mission statement.
Finally, listen to Prepare the Ground with an open mind. Ignore the bad reviews from 2006. Listen to the musicianship. Listen to the drum work. It’s a much better album than the "scene" gave it credit for at the time.
What We Get Wrong About Their Breakup
The internet loves a villain. People want to blame "creative differences" or a "greedy label" for why A Change of Pace didn't become Linkin Park.
The truth is much more mundane.
By 2008, the world was changing. The MySpace era was dying. Facebook was taking over. The "scene" was splintering into a million sub-genres. A Change of Pace was a band built for a specific moment in time. When that moment passed, they had to decide whether to chase the trend or walk away. Most of them chose to walk away with their dignity intact rather than becoming a parody of themselves.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive deeper into the history of the band or the Arizona scene in general, there are a few specific things you should do to get the full picture.
Track down the physical media.
The liner notes for An Offer You Can't Refuse contain credits and thank-yous that paint a vivid picture of the mid-2000s Phoenix music scene. It’s a "who’s who" of people who would go on to run the industry.
Listen to the side projects.
To understand why the band sounded the way it did, listen to Micah Bentley’s solo work versus Torry Jasper’s later demos. It becomes very clear where the "pop" ended and the "punk" began.
Support the "Peoria Sound."
A Change of Pace was part of a specific ecosystem. Researching Immortal Records' late-era roster provides context on why so many bands from that period struggled to find a footing as the digital transition happened.
Check the "Loose Lips" legacy.
Watch the music video for "Loose Lips Sink Ships" on YouTube and read the comments. It’s not just "I miss 2005" spam. You’ll find stories of people who used that music to get through genuine trauma. That is the real metric of a band's success, not a Gold record or a Grammy.
A Change of Pace might not be a household name in 2026, but for anyone who lived through the era where your "Top 8" defined your social standing, they are legendary. They represent the beauty of a band that burned bright, refused to stay stagnant, and eventually had the grace to let the music speak for itself. It’s rare. It’s honest. It’s exactly what the genre needed.