“Nobody knows we’re empty so we fake it.“
I love me some pop punk. Always have, always will. But as with anything, there’s a lot of middling pop punk out there. State Champs, however, has had my heart for a long while. Each of their albums ends up being one of the best within their respective genre for that year. And “Elevated” off The Finer Things is indisputably one of the best pop punk songs ever. Fast forward to today, and the band is once again dropping an album, this time in the form of Kings of the New Age out on May 13th via Pure Noise Records.
With each new release, I wish for bands to evolve their sound while remaining true to who they are. It’s a tight rope to walk, and some do it much better than others, leading to either new fans, or alienating their old ones. State Champs has forgone that complicated song and dance and have put out an album true to their sound up to this point – roughly 35 minutes of high energy pop punk, perfect for driving with the windows down, or hanging out by the pool. I welcome this set-in-stone mentality in some circumstances. State Champs is indeed one of those circumstances. I come to them for a generally specific type of sound, and they delivered once again. The downside is that this usually prevents an album from entirely wowing me, but such is life, and such is Kings of the New Age.
There were a solid handful of singles leading up to the album’s releasing, dating all the way back to August 2021 with “Just Sound”. Most of the singles I found to not be favorites on the album overall. “Eventually”, however, was just recently released, and reinvigorated my excitement for Kings of the New Age. This track shows how good the band is at what they set out to do. The chorus is leagues above a lot of their contemporaries, and the song is paced really well by the drummer Evan Ambrosio. There are also some nice harmonies on the bridge. They’re not afraid to use more subtle chords at times to create ambiance, and juxtapose the strong chorus sections.
The tracks that will be entirely new once the album drops should impress fans, too. “Fake It” is a fun, relatable song with strong lyrics. “Half Empty” could be the best track on the album, as it has perhaps the most emotional performance from vocalist Derek DiScanio. Lyrically, the track uses multiple metaphors to express the various messages and they’re all catchy as well as fairly witty. My only gripe with the song is that it feels a bit repetitive by the end. There’s also a nice feature on this one from Chrissy Costanza (Against the Current) who really makes it feel like this track is a conversation between heartfelt partners.
“Act Like That” is very much a “feel good” track and also deserves a mention for how strong it is. It’s one of the more poppy cuts, but the ear worm is undeniable. Country star Mitchell Tenpenny lends his voice to the chorus and his soulful addition is a welcome one. I want to bring up “Sundress” too. It has that larger-than-life sound to it, at least as far in that direction as you can get for a pop punk track. I’m talking ones like “In Bloom” by Neck Deep, though not exactly on that level. The soundscape on “Sundress” is equal parts nostalgic and epic, and who doesn’t love a good sundress? It also features Dan freakin’ O’Connor (Four Year Strong) on the bridge who absolutely kills it, as usual.
Kings of the New Age is a worthy addition to one of the strongest discographies in pop punk, despite all of the tracks not being of top quality. And as summer approaches, this is the perfect time of year for the album to release and be in rotation.
6/10
You can pre-order Kings of the New Age by State Champs here before its impending release this Friday (May 13th). And for everything music, check back with Boolin Tunes.