It annoys me when people declare things to be “dead”. Quite often whatever they are referring to is not “dead’; instead, for one reason or another, that person has lost enjoyment or meaning from that particular item. To compensate and try to find meaning from their loss of pleasure, they make the all-encompassing excuse that the item is now past the point of serving a purpose and must be put to rest. Sometimes, that is true, but more often than not, that item isn’t what changed – it’s the person passing the judgment who has changed.
The declaration of “death” is particularly pervasive in music. If I had a dollar for every genre that I have heard declared as dead over time, I would have all the money I’d need to retire from teaching and settle down in Western Pennsylvania for the duration of my years. Rock has been declared dead prematurely. Hip hop has been declared dead as well. Same with punk rock and all the way down to disco (okay, they may have had a point with that one).
Perhaps the greatly exaggerated demise of the pop punk genre gets to me the most because it is a genre that I have grown up with and has helped to shape me into the man I am today. From Nothing Gold Can Stay to Mmhmm to The Rocking Chair Years, pop punk music served as the soundtrack to my formative years and has stayed with me as I near closer to 30 than 20.
Let’s be fair. The genre has always been met with its fair share of derision. Even when bands like Blink-182, Green Day, and New Found Glory were bringing the genre to mainstream prominence, pop punk was always in this weird in-between zone. The punk rockers would see us as their younger sibling who was trying too hard to be popular, while the pop crowd didn’t find us as popular enough. If pop punk was ever going to break through, it had to change.
And change it did. While Fall Out Boy helped bring the genre to the forefront of the middle of last decade, other bands followed their lead to less successful results. As the decade neared its end, the pop punk bands that were finding success were not your typical pop punk bands. They added elements of other genres, whether it was the increased use of synths in 2007 or so or the rise of infusion of hardcore elements by bands like Four Year Strong, Set Your Goals, or even A Day to Remember. I enjoy these bands, but even I wondered what was next for “traditional” pop punk.
One of the scarier things to hit the pop punk genre in the 2010s was complacency and lack of creativity. Once The Wonder Years really hit their stride with Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing, there was an influx of singers who wanted to sound exactly like Soupy and sounded like B-rate impostors. Put simply, there wasn’t much good coming out. People were quick to proclaim the death of pop punk. Some bands took up the mantra that they needed to “Defend Pop Punk”. The best way for anyone to defend pop punk is to preserve all the things that made the genre great – energy, driving beats, killer hooks, and relatable lyrics about love, growth, and heartbreak – and build upon them. Here are two bands today that are doing that and more.
State Champs is a band that really burst on the scene in 2013 with their debut full length, The Finer Things. I wonder if they got their inspiration from Derek Discanio’s voice, because it is one of the finest things to hit the genre in years. I have always held Ryan Key as the gold standard for vocal excellence in the genre, but give Derek some time, and he’ll be up there as well. I had the privilege of seeing these guys perform at Warped Tour ’14, and they brought passion, intensity, and most importantly, the skills to back it all up. Give these guys three years, and they’ll be headlining the whole tour.
Everyone likes a good underdog story. Rising from the bottom to attain the pinnacle of excellence is so deeply rooted in the fabric of our country and culture that it more or less defines the “American Dream”. We’ve all been overlooked and underrated at some point, and it does our hearts well to see someone in a similar situation rise to the top because it fills us with hope that we can one day do the same. Forever Came Calling is one of these underdog stories. A few years ago, these guys had to scratch and claw just to make on the stage of Warped one time. To lesser people, that would be enough to give it up, but they kept going. Their relentless pursuit of what they wanted is something we can all learn from. But they didn’t stop there. Too often people look at merely receiving an opportunity as the endgame, but the opportunity is just the beginning. To get to where you want to be, you have to make the most of the opportunities you are given, no matter how limited they may be. After signing on with Pure Noise Records, Forever Came Calling has made their mark on the genre, starting with 2012’s Contender and continuing with 2014’s What Matters Most. Hyperbole aside, both of these albums would have been heavyweights a decade ago when the genre was healthiest. Songs like “Indebted”, “Defenseless”, and “Spanish Mothers (I Just Miss)” show that these guys not only have a bright future, their present is pretty glorious as well.
State Champs and Forever Came Calling are just two of the bands who are “getting it right” and doing the genre proud. There are other bands out there who are working hard to make their mark as well. Pop punk’s not dead. It’s not even sleeping. Make sure you’re not the one who’s sleeping and missing out on all that’s out there.
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