June 15th, 2018 was a date many kids and degenerate adults in the pop punk scene greatly anticipated. As days grew closer, more singles dropped, showing a preview of what we had to look forward to on State Champs' new album, Living Proof. Here, I'll give a brutally honest track review, alongside my own opinion of the 13 track album, while also providing background information on the producers.
Producers:
To start off, lets look at the producers behind this album. Kyle Black, Mike Green and the infamous John Feldmann. Now, Kyle Black has a pretty solid name in the world of producing pop punk albums, as some of his best works, in my opinion are, Great Heights and Nose Dives by ROAM, Adornment by Grayscale, and Distant by Like Pacific- and on top of producing, editing and mixing on those albums, he's also worked with the pop punk staples All Time Low, New Found Glory and Paramore, to name a few. Mike Green is another producer who has a very large name in the scene, working alongside Black on Grayscale's Adornment. Mike Green has also seemed to work on the conformists albums. What I mean by this is, Mike Green has been credited on All Time Low's Dirty Work and Last Young Renegade, Neck Deep's The Peace The Panic, and now, Living Proof by State Champs- all the most pop sounding albums that ran the bands straight out of the scene and into the spotlight of money hungry producers and record labels. Who else has helped in the depletion of the new generation punk sound? That's right, John Feldmann. John Feldmann, credited on Blink-182's California, the absolute worst Blink-182 album known to man. After the departure of frontman Tom DeLonge, followed by the addition of Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba, the trio decided to seek help from John Feldmann, who I personally think took Blink-182 by the hand, led them into the middle of the ocean, said "catchy singalongs", then sailed away on a boat and left them there to fend for themselves with very poor advice. John Feldmann did the same thing to All Time Low, as he is credited with the album Future Hearts, which follows the same pattern as seen in California, with the constant "woah-oh-oh"s and bland, generic lyrics. You can see the similarities between all three albums, as they all lack lyrical content and good sound, but all have one thing in common; John Feldmann.
Two major influences on this album were Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low and Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, two friends of Feldmann and the lead singer of State Champs, Derek DiScanio. On the Feldmann produced albums, Mark Hoppus is painfully shoved into being featured on at least one song, Tidal Waves off of Future Hearts and Time Machine off of Living Proof. Will anybody realize that featuring Mark Hoppus on your album became uncool after Simple Plan did it in 2002? As of late, producers like Feldmann seem to be ruining the pop punk sound.
Track Review:
Criminal: As a leadoff to this album, State Champs definitely gave us a taste of just how bad this album would be. The opening makes you think, "Hey, is this really State Champs?" because, it sounds absolutely nothing like any of their previous music. As we progress into the song, the shakiness in Derek's voice when it comes to the build-up to the chorus practically screams All Time Low. As we pass the middle point of the song, you start to notice the similarities between the overall sound of Future Hearts and the bridge. Derek DiScanio has a very strong voice as seen in The Finer Things, but unfortunately, Alex Gaskarth seems to have taken over his vocal chords.
Overall Rate: 4.5/10
Frozen: A strong song with a catchy, head-bangable drum beat and chorus. Although State Champs' name is on this song, it feels like it was ripped directly off of the album Paradise, by Broadside, a band in which Kyle Black worked with. Instead of State Champs boldly writing their name on this song, it feels like they crossed out somebody's name and wrote over it. This is a song that feels like you've heard it all before, and that is not good.
Overall Rate: 4.5/10
Crystal Ball: Crystal Ball, a lot better than most songs on this album, as they use Derek's voice for what it's supposed to be used for. As the second single, this song is supposed to pull you in deeper than the first and make you want to hear the rest of the album, and honestly, although it is by NO means the best State Champs song out there, it does its job. The grit and gravel heard by Derek really pulls you in and makes you want to sing along- but that is the only really good part of the song, as the leadups are awkwardly slow and feel out of place.
Overall Rate: 7/10
Dead And Gone: The first single released for Living Proof, does it pull you in? Sure it does, do you know why? Because it's almost the exact same song as All Time Low's Don't You Go, which was written by Alex Gaskarth AND John Fledmann, two major writers on this album. Coincidence? I think not. Here we are again, four songs in, and still feeling like I've heard these songs sung better by different bands.
Overall Rate: 6/10
Lightning: A song that feels a little old school State Champs while incorporating their new softer tone, it pushes a sweet "love at first sight" kind of vibe and I think this is a pretty solid song, listening to it the second time around. It really brings out the bass and the guitar parts towards the end of the song, which makes it unique from the others in the best way.
Overall Rate: 8/10
Our Time To Go: Wow, was this song a flop. What was aimed to be a ballad for emo kids with the terrible attempt at being relatable to the "sad" youth- this made me literally want to throw up. This song is one that tries to make you feel something, to tug at your heart strings, but really it just makes you want to tear your heart out and stop breathing because it's just that terrible. Lyrically, this song is the equivalent to hot garbage.
Overall Rate: 1.5/10
Safe Haven: For a song with a reasonably catchy chorus, it goes on for 3:37, which in my opinion, is about half a minute too long. Sure, this song will get stuck in your head with its catchy lyrics and colorful riff, but again, it doesn't feel like a State Champs song. I feel like I've heard this song before- possibly because it sounds like the B-side track Slow Burn off of the deluxe edition of Around The World And Back.
Overall Rate: 5/10
Something About You: Awesome, another song that makes you question if this is even State Champs. A very preppy, pop sound that has never been heard before by State Champs. Something About You tells the love story we've all heard about a million times- the guy and the girl fall in love, it gets rocky but oh, don't worry, they're fine, because there's just something about them that keeps them together. Very original, right? It is a very summery song that I feel like some dude at a party could vibe to, so in my opinion, it is a little less terrible than some others.
Overall Rate: 4/10
The Fix Up: Alex Gaskarth, is that you? Oh right, it actually is, because he co-wrote this song. This song screams All Time Low even more than Dead And Gone, as you can compare the writing style in this song to ones off of Future Hearts, like Kicking And Screaming. Especially with Alex's co-write on this song, it is so blatantly copied off of other bands styles, which screams once again, unoriginal.
Overall Rate: 3/10
Cut Through The Static: This one is a little less terrible, as the beginning doesn't blow the entire song and the grit in Derek's voice is consistent. But, grit doesn't always make a good song, as looking at the cheesy lyrics in this song makes me question if the past five years of State Champs even happened. The sound of the song overall is fairly decent, as they use Derek's voice for what it's supposed to be used for, and not something like Our Time To Go.
Overall Rate: 5/10
Mine is Gold: There are a lot of things wrong with this song. First, the opening drum beat sounds like it was ripped directly off of Blink-182's Bored To Death, off the John Feldmann record. Second, this song is 2 minutes and 44 seconds of wasted time. Not only does this song drag on for an excruciatingly long amount of time, but it does not keep you listening or captivated at all. This song is so painfully bland that I really do wish I could get back my three minutes.
Overall Rate: 1/10
Time Machine (ft. Mark Hoppus): Not only is this the worst State Champs song ever released, it may just be the worst song EVER released by ANYONE. I've heard some very terrible music before, but nothing compares to this sorry excuse of a song. Featuring Mark Hoppus on your songs became uncool after Blink-182 broke up for the first time, which was a VERY long while ago! Way to be original with your ONE feature, its not like Neck Deep, Simple Plan, All Time Low and literally any other pop punk band that could afford him has done that before. Not only is this song painful to listen to from the start, but Mark Hoppus' part just makes it that much worse. Thanks, Feldmann.
Overall Rate: 0/10
Sidelines: Well, it's another song about a girl. I guess you can't expect much now though, right? Not after this mess of an album. It is a good close to the album, showing off the band and Derek's voice pretty well. It's a catchy song, one that I might even catch myself coming back to. There was no good beginning or middle, even the end was pretty bad, but this last song shows that even though State Champs as we knew them may be dead and gone, there might always still be that hint of their roots sticking out from the blanket of conformity.
Overall Rate: 7.5/10
Overall Opinion:
My overall opinion of Living Proof was that is was pretty bad. A solid one or two songs stuck out to me in a positive way, while at least 3/4 of the album stuck out in a very bad, very disappointing way. After The Peace The Panic by Neck Deep, we only had a few solid pop punk bands left to hold onto, State Champs being one of them. Now, it's time to look for some new bands, because every pop punk band with the slightest bit of fame seems bound to conform nowadays. This band had potential, but it goes to show what working with the wrong producers and embracing your influences too hard can do. Personally, I'm beyond disappointed that I have to watch another one of our staple bands feed into money and fame. My overall rate for the album Living Proof by State Champs would have to be a solid 2/5.
note: I don't hate any of these people, I simply dislike what they do. I consider myself a fan of mostly all bands mentioned in this review, which is why I feel the need to be so honest.
Thank you for reading.
