State Champs

Overslept EP

Written by: TL on 16/12/2012 00:13:35

A while ago we made an internal decision to abandon our insane "review fucking everything" strategy (having failed miserably for years) and one of the consequences was that we decided to stop reviewing releases of three songs or less. "Overslept EP" by pop-punkers State Champs is an example of a record that snuck by that premise though, by glueing a 40 second intro track on the three songs on the EP and having none of our staffers notice it before it became time for me to actually sit down and think about the review.

Anyway, as I've already let on, State Champs play pop-punk and "Overslept" is an early EP from them though not their first. Hence it is less surprising to hear that they have a pretty firm grip on how to put a decent song and production together, than it is that they stick to the textbook way of doing it so faithfully. "Overslept" is a completely typical release in the genre, with high energy, bright, buzzing guitars and an overall vibe that makes the band sound like they're ready to throw a rowdy party with you. The main thing about the band that stands out to me, is that despite going for a bouncy style reminiscent of bands like Me Vs Hero and New Found Glory, the vocals here are more powerful than I've come to expect from this genre, and it works in the band's favour that their singer both has that clear Patrick Stump-ish pop-quality to his voice, and that he knows how to push it to match the band's energy perfectly.

"Overslept"'s only problem as I see it, is that it faces stark competition in a crowded genre, and as such it needs to offer more than your average record for State Champs to gain reknown among their countless peers. And while I don't find anything particularly wrong or bad about the three songs on it, they just don't have a unique enough take on the sound, nor the super-powered catchyness that a pop-punk band needs to blow up these days. There's a strong moment in track three "We Are The Brave" when gang shouts come in, but still, it's not something we haven't heard a great many times before. To sum up, there's nothing tasteless or unenjoyable about "Overslept". It's a rock solid pop-punk release which is highlighted by a good vocal performance, I just reserve the right to doubt that the songs have much staying power. But at least it sounds like State Champs are a band heading towards fixing that.

Download: We Are The Brave, Remedy
For The Fans Of: Me Vs Hero, New Found Glory, A Loss For Words
Listen: facebook.com/statechampsny

Release Date 11.09.2012
Pure Noise Records

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