Lets Talk About: State Champs

When you hear the words pop punk instantly one of two things springs to your mind: new style serious pop-punk like Title Fight, enjoyed apparently solely by people in XXL white tee-shirts who need some softer music to listen to when they aren't punching someone to the new Hang the Bastard split OR cheesy old-style pop punk in the vein of New Found Glory and gang which fan base is exclusively people a bit too old to like it, fat 14 year old girls and people who dress in skinny jeans.


People who are fans of title fight look away now as State Champs hailing from NYC are bringing the cheesy (and fun) element back into pop-punk. Their CD-R released on January this year (1.1.11) has been a constant repeat on my iPod and with good reason, because its just so damn good.


Not in a "its listenable good" way but in a "woah this is actually really good" as State Champs have not only managed to refresh a genre which much like powerviolence, finding a good band is like finding diamonds in a sea of shit, but also bring something new to the table.





The album opens strongly with title track "Apparently I'm Nothing" which sets the upbeat yet thoughtful tone for the rest of the album, which is laden with insanely catch guitar riffs, stupidly simple cheery gang-shouts and a particularly obtuse drum-solo in my favourite track on the album "If It Helps You Focus" which also contains the line "i'll act like you haven't let me down again/I'll just pretend your promises were just a mistake" which alone should not only win you over but see that they have sat down and made a solid pop punk record.


However the albums last song "Stepping Stones" is a bit of a cringe-fest showing off that sometimes having an acoustic song after what can only be described as the "heavy" song before it can kind of kill the mood a bit if you listen to it in order.


This all aside i highly recommend you check out State Champs as although you might not think them groundbreaking or "not hardcore fused enough" i can safely say if you download it (for free off their MySpace) and you leave your iTunes on shuffle and a song like "Shades Of Grey" comes on, you'll want to put on your best pair of dickies shorts and jump round like a lunatic, because let's face it, every now and again it's nice not to be too serious.


Owen xox