By: Ryan Martin
Summer 2016 is being called the summer of the pop-punk band revival. With new albums from 2000’s era superstars like Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41 and Jimmy Eat World. As well as underground emo legends American Football. Bands like Green Day and Sum 41 struggled to hold on to their roots while still attracting new viewers. While bands like Blink and Jimmy Eat World aim to reinvent their sound with more friendly tones, veering into the mainstream freeway rather than returning to punk roots. So which act has had the most impressive album of the year?
Summer 2016 is being called the summer of the pop-punk band revival. With new albums from 2000’s era superstars like Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41 and Jimmy Eat World. As well as underground emo legends American Football. Bands like Green Day and Sum 41 struggled to hold on to their roots while still attracting new viewers. While bands like Blink and Jimmy Eat World aim to reinvent their sound with more friendly tones, veering into the mainstream freeway rather than returning to punk roots. So which act has had the most impressive album of the year?
Green Day - Revolution Radio
A cliché that's often heard when talking about Green Day’s discography is “I like their early stuff.” Green Day’s “early stuff” is debatably what sparked the punk revival of the 90’s. Bands like The Descendents and Bad Religion with their fast melodic punk sounds helped influence these acts that helped create the genre of pop-punk, making punk music marketable again. As Green Day grew in popularity, they grew from their roots and started making less pop-punk but pop-rock. Radio friendly singles followed and soon Green Day was an international rock band. With little to nothing punk about them. Green Day’s new album, Revolution Radio, is being hailed as when Green Day gets “back to basics” with tracks cluttered with quick power-chord progressions and lighting speed drumming. What they don’t tell you is that compliment only counts for two tracks. “Bang Bang” and “Revolution Radio.” Not to mention that these songs along with the entire album is filled with corny lyrics talking about rebellion and politics. Comparing this album to any of Green Day’s earlier albums would be a tragedy, the angst and creativity that was once in their lyrics is long gone. I went into this Green Day album with low exceptions but hope based on the handful of singles I’ve heard. You know when you hear a single and it ends up being like the worst track(s) on the album? That’s what I hoped for Revolution Radio. Only problem is they ended up being the best tracks when they’re not even that good.
blink-182 - California
I apologize for my beaming review of Blink-182’s California. Being as they’re my favorite band, I anticipated this album too much and was blinded by the corniness at first. To quote ‘Amazing Grace’, “I once was blind, but now I see.”
Tom DeLonge left the band and was filled in by Alkaline Trio member Matt Skiba, to read the whole story on this check out the other articles about Blink I’ve written here, and here. I’ve made the decision that California is my least favorite Blink album, and with good reason. The best track on the album is Cynical, and if you got to see them live this summer like I did, it’s hard to argue. It’s fast, reminiscent of their earlier work and is fun to sing along to. I also enjoy the lyric “I feel your hand unlock the door, leaving fingerprints of water in oil”. The rest of the album is overfilled with ‘woah-oh’s and ‘na-na’s courtesy of cringe-pop-punk producer John Feldmann. Feldmann is responsible for producing albums for bands like All Time Low, 5 Seconds of Summer, and Good Charlotte. There is nothing else to be said about this man and his creative direction. Blink’s new album is filled with poor songwriting, tacky choruses and just a corny sound. If you want to fight the corniness that is heard throughout the album, there is a handful of songs that sound fun. 'Kings of The Weekend', 'Rabbit Hole' and 'The Only Thing That Matters' can be tolerated in small doses but be warned, these are the best songs on the album.
Tom DeLonge left the band and was filled in by Alkaline Trio member Matt Skiba, to read the whole story on this check out the other articles about Blink I’ve written here, and here. I’ve made the decision that California is my least favorite Blink album, and with good reason. The best track on the album is Cynical, and if you got to see them live this summer like I did, it’s hard to argue. It’s fast, reminiscent of their earlier work and is fun to sing along to. I also enjoy the lyric “I feel your hand unlock the door, leaving fingerprints of water in oil”. The rest of the album is overfilled with ‘woah-oh’s and ‘na-na’s courtesy of cringe-pop-punk producer John Feldmann. Feldmann is responsible for producing albums for bands like All Time Low, 5 Seconds of Summer, and Good Charlotte. There is nothing else to be said about this man and his creative direction. Blink’s new album is filled with poor songwriting, tacky choruses and just a corny sound. If you want to fight the corniness that is heard throughout the album, there is a handful of songs that sound fun. 'Kings of The Weekend', 'Rabbit Hole' and 'The Only Thing That Matters' can be tolerated in small doses but be warned, these are the best songs on the album.
Jimmy Eat World - Integrity Blues
Jimmy Eat World’s new album doesn’t sound like Jimmy Eat World. And frankly, it just sounds all over the place in terms of a constructive sound. The beginning of the album reminds me of a shimmery pop-rock sound reminiscent of Coldplay or maybe The Killers at times. I dig the first two tracks, especially the first opener. "You With Me" sounds really pretty with the acoustic guitar and synths. "Sure and Certain" is a little too sugary for my taste but it can still be enjoyed. It could very well be a radio hit. The rest of the album is not very strong. Songs like "Pretty Grids" and "Pass the Baby" don’t necessarily sound dark but doesn’t have an appealing sound to it. In "Pretty Grids", there is an excessive use of synths and what sounds like a drum machine gives the song a really techno sound to it which doesn’t work. The same goes for "Pass the Baby", which in itself is a horrible name for a song. Regardless, "Pass the Baby" is pretty dark and abrasive and has kind of a lame edgy sounding breakdown towards the end. The guitar progression doesn’t really work at all, it’s difficult to enjoy. All in all, this album is pretty below decent. Personally, I’m a sucker for a good album artwork, it usually makes me check out the album despite the artist. I like the artwork for Integrity Blues but the music behind it definitely let me down.
American Football - American Football (LP2)
I recently got really into American Football this summer. The history behind them summed up is that they put out an album in 1999 and broke up shortly after. Over the years, the album developed a huge cult following and is regarded as one of the best albums of the 90’s and one of the best emo albums ever. It’s really an impressive album with gentle melodies and the occasional jazzy trumpet. When American Football announced that they were returning after 17 years to follow up that album with a second self-titled album, I knew it wasn’t going to live up to the original. It would be a stretch to even hope for an album as good as their debut. I cannot say I was wrong, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Mike Kinsella’s, the lead singer, voice has changed quite a bit over the years, regardless of this, he can still hold a tune. Songs like “Home is Where the Haunt is”, “My Instincts Are the Enemy” and “I Need a Drink (or Two or Three)” stand out to me personally. They sound reminiscent of the band’s earlier work and almost sound like a cover band at times. While American Football may not be doing anything groundbreaking or extending their legacy with this album, it’s still a solid group of tracks and worth a listen.
Sum 41 - 13 Voices
I really enjoy Sum 41’s earlier work a lot. I think Half Hour of Power is awesome and I really like All Killer No Filler as well as Does This Look Infected? I like that pop-punk high-school sound that they were so good at. After these albums, Sum 41 aimed to create a more abrasive and heavier sound, taking influences from Metal acts like Metallica and Slayer. They’ve bounced between the sound of punk rock and an alternative metal sound and their new album 13 Voices isn’t making any changes. 13 Voices doesn’t sound like it is trying to win over any new fans, it sticks to their previous sounds and doesn’t necessarily rise above or below that. While I haven’t been a fan of Sum 41’s heavier albums, this album didn’t really impress me all that much. I though “Fake My Own Death” wasn’t bad, it had traces of their earlier sound mixed with some metal influences that I could appreciate. I also didn’t totally hate “The Fall and the Rise”, it could definitely be better but it wasn’t horrible. I thought “War” sounded a lot like a song off Underclass Hero in that it tried to sound like an angsty, high-school band again but ended up just sounded over produced and corny. A lot of the songs on this album sound pretty corny to be honest as well. “There Will Be Blood” sounds like a shell of a song from Green Day’s American Idiot. “God Save US All (Death to Pop)” is just lame too. The hook sounds like a hard rock song from the mid-2000’s or a really bad Offspring song. If you’re a big fan of Sum 41, this album won’t totally disappoint you. To new fans, this is not the Sum 41 album to start with. I recommend either listening to All Killer No Filler if you’re into early summery pop-punk or Chuck if you’re into alternative metal and a heavier sound.
None of these albums were completely impressive to me. While Sum 41, Green Day and American Football tried to recreate the magic that was in their earlier catalog, Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World tried to create a new sound to appeal to a new audience. Sum 41 beats out Green Day in terms of successfully recapturing an earlier sound, which sounds a lot like something off Chuck or Screaming Bloody Murder. It would be as stretch to say it would sound like a song off Does This Look Infected. Blink and Jimmy Eat World aim for a more mainstream audience on their new albums, with some sounding cornier than others. Jimmy Eat World’s new album isn’t terrible but it is not a sound that could reinvent the band and provide more fame. A lot of albums came out this year, a lot better than this lot to check out. If I had to recommend an album to you out of this group, I would go with American Football’s sequel. While it may not be as good as the first, it has some decent tracks on it if you enjoy that mellow style of music.
It wasn’t until this summer that I finally realized that older bands can’t always put out a new fresh sound with every album. I thoroughly love an album by every one of the bands that I have talked about in this article, yet their most recent efforts have fallen flat. Do yourself a favor next time your favorite band from the 90’s puts out a new album, revisit their old one.
Ryan Martin
Ryan enjoys Schweppes, How I Met Your Mother and Chance the Rapper