Album review: State Champs – State Champs

When blink-182 released their eponymous fifth album in 2003, it marked a transition for the pop-punk powerhouses that few others in the genre have managed. Which is to say they matured, both musically and lyrically, from potty-mouth juveniles into something with a little more depth and darkness (albeit with some dick and fart jokes still in tow). It’s a rare occurrence in a scene that glorifies youthful, reckless abandon – The Wonder Years are perhaps the most successful example of that graduation, but the vast majority of bands are stuck at high school, held back year after year after year. Musically, State Champs haven’t matured that much on this fifth record. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though – their spiky and spunky, feisty and infectious songs ha...

unsplash-logoLilith Redmoon