State Champs - State Champs
State Champs
State Champs
Release Date: November 8th, 2024
Label: Pure Noise Records
Review by Jared Stossel
In the early 2010s, a new wave of pop-punk groups began to emerge from dingy clubs and suburban garages around the United States. Inspired by the likes of Blink-182, Sum 41, Simple Plan and New Found Glory, plus the 90s cluster of acts like Descendents, Green Day, and Bad Religion, artists like The Story So Far, Man Overboard, The Wonder Years, and Real Friends sprung up and out of the ground, their roots manifesting their way into larger venues and bigger records each year. In Albany, New York, State Champs emerged with this class, dropping their Apparently, I’m Nothing EP in 2011. After years of consistently releasing standout albums and hitting the road on countless tours, the four-piece East Coast act has released their self-titled fifth studio album, and it is as electrifying and catchy as their previous efforts. There isn’t a bad song in the bunch, and every track has a discernible, catchy hook that will stay stuck in your head for days.
When an artist releases a self-titled album, it is usually a definitive statement proclaiming, “this is who we are, and this album is the most representative of the kind of band we are and want to be.” Paramore, for example, released their self-titled album, and it showcased both where they’ve come from, exactly how far they’ve come since their inception, and where they are looking to branch out in the coming years. Since then, they have veered away from the pop-punk territory that they became known for on albums like All We Know Is Falling and Riot!, diving headfirst into indie and alt-rock territory (look no further than After Laughter and This Is Why for examples). State Champs isn’t a band that has consistently jumped from genre to genre, but they’ve made slight tweaks with every release since their 2011 EP; whether they’re polishing up a guitar tone, creating a more memorable chorus, or improving their lyrics, there is always a noticeable change in musicianship, one that only gets better with each progressive record.
Upon first listening to State Champs, it might be easy to write it off as “been there, done that”. The band doesn’t steer to far from the topics that are usually found in pop-punk, dealing with love, lost relationships, and the urge to grow outside the confines of the town they grew up in. But look a little closer, and you’ll find some of the best songwriting of the band’s career and immaculate musicianship. Every song acts as a perfect synthesis of the pop-punk stylings that now dominate the scene to those from the early 2000s that influenced the generation that would come in later years. Pluck any song out of the track list from State Champs, fromthe electrifying “get up off the floor” opener “The Constant” to the anthem-like conclusion “Golden Years”, and you could find the band fitting in with any generation. Producer Anton DeLost (who helped co-write some of the biggest tracks on the band’s previous outing, Kings of the New Age), does a great job at making each song stand out on its own while fitting into one cohesive album; he has managed to bring out to the best of their abilities as a producer, and it seems to be a relationship that works well.
If the band’s trajectory over the last decade has indicated anything, it’s that State Champs will continue to get better with each album they release in subsequent years, and they will stand amongst their peers in this scene as one of the best pop-punk bands of this generation. Their self-titled album solidifies this thesis statement.
