The music that shaped my formative years was heavily pop-punk. Green Day, blink-182, Rancid and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were some of the first bands I loved. And come college, my life was taken over by acts like The Offspring, Sum 41, Unwritten Law, New Found Glory, Midtown, Good Charlotte, MXPX, The Ataris…I could go on. With these bands as my benchmarks, I’ll admit I became a little snobbish towards the next generation of pop-punk artists that followed in these bands’ footsteps. I spent more time going back, growing to appreciate The Descendants, Bad Religion and NOFX than the new crop of artists like All Time Low, We The Kings, and State Champs.
Overtime, I began to let down my guardrails and give these groups a chance. All Time Low made their way into my fandom with “Weightless”, while We The Kings won me over with “Check Yes, Juliet”. This year, I finally gave State Champs a fair shot, and they’ve found a place in my musical heart with “Too Late to Say”, one of the fine singles from their new self-titled album. When given the opportunity to listen to the full album for review, I hesitated a moment – while they’ve shown me they can write a song I like, would a full album of their music live up to my high-standards for the genre?
After listening, I would say “generally yes”. There’s no denying the influence of bands like blink and NFG on State Champs, and being an “elder emos/pop-punker”, it’s hard for any of the new crop of bands to live up to those ones I first loved. But there is a good reason that State Champs have survived and thrived for over ten years now – they know how to write good songs, even if they aren’t breaking the genre mold.
The album opener “The Constant” starts with a very Tom Delonge styled guitar line, and has all the hallmarks of the best of the genre; a grand chorus, memorable lyrics (“You sold me out from inside my house”), and some top-notch drumming. “Silver Cloud” is no different – it’s straight-forward pop-punk, but the hooks are catchy, and I commend the band for infusing a streak of hopefulness in it (“Standing underneath the silver cloud, but I don’t feel it raining now”). Not that the album is ever morose. “Clueless” is a perfectly fun bop, and “Tight Grip” has one of the snappiest and tightest choruses on the album, while overflowing with the kind of snark Green Day kill at.
While many of those songs adhere to the earlier sounds of the pop-punk pantheon, it’s tracks like “Too Late to Say” where the maturity of the band shows. It’s here the band admits “I’m out of one-liners” and gets vulnerable (“Is it too late to say I was always afraid?”), while also showcasing a more interesting melodic dynamic. The album continues to show signs of State Champs earning their status as elder statesmen. There’s the thoughtful lyrics on “Sobering” (“I know that I’ve been weak before, but who’s really keeping score?”), or the 80’s hair metal chords on “I Still Want To” (which also has a guitar line cribbing NFG’s “My Friends Over You”). And the drummer shines again on the breakneck “Just a Dream”, which also incorporates some solid harmonizing.
And giving “Too Late to Say” a run for its money is the closer “Golden Years”, which perfectly captures a feeling of being caught in the past while also trying to move forward (“How do I find a way to say that maybe the golden years they mean something a bit different these days”). This one really struck an emotional chord in just the vocal delivery.
There are very likely bands starting today who look up to State Champs like they did to the bands I love. And for real – they managed to survive during a time when pop-punk was not dominating the airwaves, long before MGK brought guitars back to the radio and Olivia Rodrigo was having hits (admittedly) ripping off Paramore. So I have full respect for the band, and would recommend any fan of pop-punk to give this album a shot.
It’s out everywhere tomorrow, November 8th, on Pure Noise Records. Listen to the pre-release tracks here!
The Indy Review 
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