If you were to ask, “Who are State Champs?”, you’d most probably be given a look that suggested that you’d A) been dropped on your head at an early age, or B) been living under a rock for the last four years. Because State Champs are one of the newer bands on the pop-punk scene, having signed to Pure Noise Records in 2012 after the release of their first two EPs ‘2010’ and ‘Apparently I’m Nothing’. They’ve racked up appearances at Warped Tour and Slam Dunk, toured alongside Bayside, New Found Glory, and We Are the In Crowd, and look set to become most people’s favourite pop-punk band by the end of 2014.
Newest release, ‘The Acoustic Things’, only features two new songs, ‘Leave You In the Dark’ and ‘If I’m Lucky’ – the other five tracks are re-workings from 2013 release ‘The Finer Things’. Kicking off with ‘Elevated’, there’s no denying that these guys are incredibly tight when it comes down to their music. The melodies are neat, and Derek Discanio’s vocals are staggering; they ascend rather emotionally during new track ‘Leave You In the Dark’, while ‘Easy Enough’ demonstrates his power. Huge choruses come in bundles in ‘Hard to Please’, while ‘If I’m Lucky’ is another example of sunny pop-punk writing about wanting another girl.
‘The Acoustic Things’ is a stellar record – these acoustic re-workings are an absolute pleasure to listen to, and each hook is as catchy as the last. However, despite how good this is and how fun it is to blast as loud as possible, it seems that State Champs are just treading down a very worn (and quite frankly, boring) path.
JESS TAGLIANI