Music Review: State Champs’ self-titled album is enjoyable, quintessential, predictable pop-punk

New York pop-punk set State Champs’ self-titled album is 1 fans of nan genre person heard earlier — a set musing astir awkward interactions astatine parties, overthinking their romanticist relationships and scorning nan mundane. Across 12 tracks, nan medium is charming, but unchallenging.

Typically, erstwhile an creator chooses to sanction an medium aft themselves, they’re communicating thing — that this is their astir definitive work, nan merchandise they astir place with. In nan lawsuit of State Champs, nan medium released 14 years into their profession stays existent to nan angsty personality they established successful their early music, while expressing a reluctance to branch into thing more.

In a corporate statement, nan set described nan grounds arsenic embodying each of State Champs’ discography, and it’s true. The caller album’s tracks could beryllium to their debut EP successful 2010 aliases their past album, 2022’s “Kings of nan New Age.” There’s thing to beryllium said for consistency, but overwhelmingly, their matured pop-punk coupled pinch consequence aversion leans much into the information of pop territory than punk.

A bully illustration of this is nan first song, “The Constant,” each peppy drums, sultry guitars and punctuating tambourines; it launches into an power that is carried passim nan record. The instrumentals are edgy, but nan lyrics are aboveground level. “Do you deliberation I merit this/Keeping maine successful nan dark/While you sewage what you wanted," frontman Derek DiScanio sings.

He declares a akin thesis 5 songs successful astatine “Too Late to Say,” complete drum-heavy production: “When there’s a bully point coming/I move astir instead/I’m getting bully astatine ignoring it."

Influences from iconic bands successful nan genre for illustration All Time Low and Blink-182 are heard throughout. Lyrics are generic and universal, avoiding immoderate existent controversy. Even profanities are meticulously placed to beryllium affectual and nonthreatening — moreover much reserved than what you’d find connected an Olivia Rodrigo record.

Across nan album, State Champs wrestle pinch self-doubt. It takes connected a fewer forms. On “Just a Dream” and nan person “Golden Years,” nan set is stuck connected nan past, unsure of nan future. “'Cause now it takes everything successful me/Putting nan past up connected a shelf/And falling successful emotion pinch thing else,” DiScanio sings connected nan second track.

But location are standouts, for illustration nan palm-muted powerfulness chords of “Clueless,” driving bass of “Light Blue” and nan explosive, lovesick brooding and pack vocals of “Save Face Story." They’re not reinventing nan instrumentality here, but successful those moments, their customariness works.

Overall, State Champ’s eponymous medium colors comfortably wrong pop-punk’s lines, choosing familiarity complete experimentation. It makes for a predictable but enjoyable album, evoking nan image of a suburban location statement aliases while practicing tricks astatine nan skatepark.

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