We’ve been loving State Champs’ recently released singles (‘Light Blue?’ lives on our On Repeat playlist on Spotify rn). Their When We Were Young Fest 2024 set where they played The Finer Things in full? Blew our minds, the definition of a cathartic experience. (Therapy? Expensive. Hearing ‘Over The Line’ live? Better than therapy). All of this to say, State Champs dropped their self-titled album today after ages of us being super hyped and it did not disappoint. But, let’s be real, we knew that State Champs by State Champs was going to be amazing.
The fact that it’s a self-titled record is very apt. It’s State Champs solidifying their status as powerhouses in the scene with an album that feels like the very best representation of their sound. It sounds like a State Champs album yes, but it sounds like THE State Champs album you know? We have a feeling that a lot of these tracks are going to make the list for “songs you absolutely should listen to if you want to get into State Champs.”
After a few careful listen-throughs of the album, we’re getting hints of elements from State Champs’ past. Some of the tracks feel like they could fit in the Kings Of The New Age era and some of the guitar riffs feel Living Proof or Around The World and Back-esque. Like we said, it’s perfect that this is State Champs by State Champs because it’s all the things we love about the band and their sound wrapped up in these 12 tracks.
With that in mind, we wanted to pick a few tracks to highlight in the hopes of enticing you to listen to the album (if you weren’t already planning on streaming it on a loop, that is). We love the whole record, don’t get us wrong, but if you sat here and read every word of us yapping about every track it would take away from precious streaming time you could be using to learn all the lyrics.
‘The Constant’
We Love a good opening track and ‘The Constant’ starts the record out strong. In a way, it feels like it’s transitioning us from the KOTNA era to the self-titled era of Champs. Maybe we’re the only ones who feel that way but we stand by that. Also that “f*cking con artist” line sounds like the type of thing we’re going to LOVE screaming live.
‘Sobering’
This track is one of our favorites sonically and lyrically. The bridge? So good. It has a ton of “scream along in our car with the windows down” potential and that is a very important aspect of a song tbh. Thematically, parts of this album seem to touch on the different feelings that can pop up post-relationship (see: ‘I Still Want To’ compared to ‘Sobering’) and this song is an example of that. Lyrically, we love the play on words in the lines “I couldn’t get drunk enough to let bad love back into my brain/the thought of you is sobering.” It’s a great metaphor for refusing to go back to something bad and this song captures it well.
‘Tight Grip’
The narrative and the overall sound of ‘Tight Grip’ just scream pop-punk. And not just pop-punk but like classic pop punk formulated for a new era. Just look at these lyrics:
You look so surprised to see
It working out for a freak like me
You know it’s not brain surgery
You’re big talk but you’re boring me
The song is super catchy and we love the middle finger it gives to the “9 to 5 suit and tie” kind of person who thinks they know better than everyone else. It has exactly the kind of narrative we’ve come to expect and love from a pop punk track AND we can already picture this being a hit with a live crowd.
‘Save Face Story’ ft. Slope
This song scratches something in our brains just right. ‘Save Face Story’ feels like a classic Champs song for their new era and we love it. The guitar and vocals in this song work so perfectly together to create a track that is catchy as hell. And, the album drop brought us a new music video too, with Champs attending a dinner party that ends in…comical tragedy? Just check it out for yourself. Also, loving the Slope feature. ‘Save Face Story’ overall feels like a track we would categorize as “quintessential State Champs” and if we had to recommend a bunch of State Champs tracks to a brand new listener, this would be one of them!
Like we said, you could spend forever reading our yapping about the album OR you can go stream the entirety of State Champs’ self-titled album for yourself and see what all the hype is about. What’s even better is that they’re heading out on tour too! We can’t wait to see the setlist and if our favorite tracks from the new album make it but no matter what they play we know it’s going to be an amazing time. Grab your tickets to catch them in a city near you, you won’t want to miss out!
Which songs on State Champs’ self-titled album are your favorite? Let us know by commenting down below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPOP! We are also on Facebook, Instagram, and Discord where we’re always buzzing about something.
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