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State Champs – The Finer Things
Packed with colossal hooks and melodies, State Champs’ debut album The Finer Things stands out as one of the best pop punk releases this year and raises the bar sky high for the genre.
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Packed with colossal hooks and melodies, State Champs’ debut album The Finer Things stands out as one of the best pop punk releases this year and raises the bar sky high for the genre.
Four-piece Ohio natives Mixtapes channel an old school, timeless pop punk feeling that makes one nostalgic for the early punk scene, riddled with introspective lyrics and power chord-driven guitars.
On their appropriately titled debut LP, Youth, Citizen unsurprisingly addresses coming-of-age angst – typical fodder for most young, earnest pop punk bands – yet somehow they accomplish it without sounding stale or cliche.
After the success of their debut full-length last year, Misser have established themselves as an important component of the rising indie pop punk scene. The Distancing EP offers yet another couple songs for fans to sink their teeth into, as well as coming off as another collection of stories that the band needed to get off their chest.
The range present in Man Overboard’s third full-length Heart Attack epitomizes the fluidity of the term “pop punk,†making the album a must-have for anyone that considers themselves a fan of the genre.
With Shane Henderson and the Future Perfect, Henderson utilizes the greater creative control he has on the aptly named Control to explore his musical capabilities, replacing the punk in pop punk with singer-songwriter instead as he moves toward a lighter, more laid-back feel.
On their debut full-length, Turnover have turned down the rough pop punk elements of their early material, relying on melodic riffs, subtle hooks, and poignant lyrics to explore its dark themes.
For their No Sleep Records debut, Major League were able to pull out all of the stops. While they may still be a relatively new band, Hard Feelings easily has the potential to become a classic and will find the band moving up to the big leagues of pop punk.
Full of anger and personal regrets, Handguns use their debut full-length to get everything off their chests. With creative punk thrills and pop punk driven chord progressions, Angst is sure to make pop punk fans everywhere happy.
State Champs may be relative newcomers to the industry, but they’re already living up to their name as the soon-to-be champions of pop punk.
