State Champs - Living Proof (June 15, 2018) Album • Page 8

Destroys both of them

 

Also, ATWAB is better than The Finer Things despite having a bunch of filler.

 

ATWAB was a good progression of their sound, and probably nessecary for them to grow bigger and better. But I remember hearing The Finer Things and thinking that it was the perfect distillation of what I wanted from that TSSF-style of pop punk. Personal favorite.

But they also released it when I was still at SUNY Albany, lived off State Street, and went to the release show for free, so yeah, bias.

 

No, not biased. You were right lol

 

State Champs is nowhere near the TSSF style of pop-punk though

 

That had a little grit and edge to them, though. They’ve softened and watered down their stuff a bit imo.

 

I guess, I just put my categorization of pop punk bands like this

 

They’ve lost grit and “edge” for sure. I’d just argue that it’s a positive change.

 

They've just gotten a bit more mid-tempo with the songwriting, and higher production, but they were always more pop than punk.

Derek's voice was gritty, the guitars were rougher, but the melodies were smooth and poppy, and instrumentals had a lot of room to breathe.

 

Agreed. They were always meant to head in this direction. TSSF is more indebted to hardcore.

 

Yeah after listening this is my third favorite from them, but it's still enjoyable for sure.

 

Can we talk about how much Derek sounds like John from The Maine at the end of the first verse of “The Fix Up” around 1:15?

 

Me too. 100%

 

Hot take.

This might just be one of the most consistent pop punk albums since Fireworks - Gospel. Gospel is my favorite pop punk album of this decade. Living Proof is slaying me pretty hard these last few days just like Gospel did when it first came out. It’s all I’ve been listening to.

 

I agree

 

This is insane praise considering Fireworks is the best band in the genre. Definitely not expecting this to live up to Gospel.

 

Someone said this already, but Frozen could be on Gospel

 

This is... solidly okay. Not comparable at all to Fireworks IMO. The hooks on here are fine but nowhere near any/all of their older stuff.

 

No one is saying it sounds like fireworks but that it’s the most solid release from the genre since fireworks

 

That might be true. There hasn't been a lot of pop-punk that's drawn me in during those years. I really liked the Knuckle Puck album from last year, but they're a different band, not nearly as hooky as what these guys are doing.

I think these are easily the best hooks of SC career though

 

I don't think there's a song on here that is even in the same ballpark hook-wise as "Critical" or "Elevated" or "Losing Myself" just to name a few.

 

I mean yeah, that one song sounds a lot like Gospel

 

That's why Finer Things is the better record.

 

Big Surprise: I didn't like the fireworks album hahah