R.I.P. Monument. Photo by Adam Lake.

Regardless of whether or not you’re into the emo revival, think that there isn’t an emo revival, or have no idea what I’m talking about, this is bummer news: D.C.’s emo rockers Monument are calling it quits after seven years.

In a Facebook post, the band writes that the group is parting ways due to guitarist Anton Kropp relocating to the west coast for a new job:

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Monument will soon be calling it quits.

We became a band in 2006 when we were all living in College Park, Md during a very transitional time in all of our lives. Many of us would soon be graduating, and several of our existing bands seemed to be breaking up or going through line up changes. When we came up with the band name, it came from looking around, realizing change is the only constant, and recognizing the actions and activities one partakes in define certain chapters in life. We didn’t know how long we would last or where this band would take us, but we knew that when it was all over it would be a symbol of our ideas, our friendships, and ultimately who we were throughout the duration of the band’s existence. We knew it would be a monument to our time together. We also sincerely hoped (and still do) that the music we made could be a small piece of that which made up the lives of anybody who came into contact with it, whether they liked it (probably), hated it (doubtful), or randomly saw us at a show and immediately forgot about us (impossible). We hoped that it would become part of the different monuments that make up other people’s lives as well.

The thing about monuments though, is that at some point you have to put down your tools, step back, take a look at what you’ve done, congratulate yourself for being in such an awesome band, and start working on the next monuments in your life. Changes in opportunity and life events have dictated that for us, that time is now. Anton has accepted a job offer which will allow him to grow personally and professionally, but requires a cross country move. Monument will be laid to rest with all members being great friends, great dudes, backed hard. Please help us in wishing him the best of luck in this major life and career move. This has been such a rewarding endeavor for all of us due to the fact that throughout this process we’ve made amazing friendships, gotten to create the type of music we felt needed to be created, and most importantly, there always seemed to be people out there who heard us and found value in what we were doing, or at least were willing to joke around with us at shows. For all of those reasons, we’ll never be able to adequately express our appreciation.

This band has been such a rewarding endeavor for all of us due to the fact that throughout this process we’ve made amazing friendships, gotten to create the type of music we felt needed to be created, and most importantly, there always seemed to be people out there who heard us and found value in what we were doing, or at least were willing to joke around with us at shows. For all of those reasons, we’ll never be able to adequately express our appreciation.

And don’t worry, many of the remaining band members have been engaged in that time honored, band producing tradition of drinking beers and shouting the phrase “DUDE, WE SHOULD START A BAND” at friends and strangers alike. Indeed, this is how Monument came together.

Ironically enough, we are also working on finishing up what will be our last album. We’re not exactly sure how it will be released, but we will make sure it is available as soon as possible because we are very proud of it, but most importantly we want to make a ton of money off of it. We’re not kidding, this thing has double platinum written all over it.

There will be one last Monument show in early January, held at our favorite place to play over the last few years, the fantastic The Lab in Alexandria, VA. The details will be out soon, and we’ll be playing with some of our oldest and best friends that we’ve made playing music. If you’re able to, we would be flattered if you attended.

Thanks for everything and hopefully this wasn’t TL;DR.

The group, which consists of Kropp, guitarist/singer Gabe Marquez, bassist/singer Dan Doggett, and drummer Brandon Korch formed in College Park in 2006, and have since become a staple of the D.C. punk scene, blending infectious pop-punk melodies with an unabashed love of ’90s emo. In their tenure, they’ve released two E.P.’s and an excellent full-length album, Goes Canoeing, on prominent indie label Tiny Engines. Three-quarters of the band, including Kropp, are also in the tongue-in-cheek noisy hardcore band, Shat Shorts, who put out one of the best local releases of the year. Both bands will play their final show on January 4th at The Lab in Alexandria, Va.