After the neon fad thankfully came to a close in the late aughts/early 2010s, Warped Tour kids with extremely cartoonish t-shirts were looking for some more punk to defend, and boy did they get it in poppy droves from such bands as The Story So Far, Neck Deep, and Defend Pop Punk overlords/mainstays Man Overboard! Another victorious member of the DPP community are Albany, New York’s State Champs, who formed in 2010, and contributed a different yet refreshing sense of melody and catchiness to the Ak-47 goofy “movement.” Surprisingly to some, but not you, the band is still going strong fourteen years later with five full-length studio albums that we are about to rank from worst to best. For this piece, EPs, acoustic albums, and anything not considered an LP are disqualified from entry, so we aim to elevate by your greatest mistake. Easy enough!
5. Living Proof (2018)
We will go on record by stating that we sincerely like all Of State Champs’ albums, but this one is the most inconsistent release front-to-back, so it’s in the golden stinker spot. Honestly, “Living Proof,” the band’s third full-length studio LP, was sort of handicapped from the start as it followed their first/best two records, and a higher quality follow-up was a difficult feat. Maybe there were too many producer cooks in the proverbial kitchen which made it feel a tad more disjointed than prior efforts? Maybe the songs couldn’t cut through the static and remained frozen for both SC fans and casual listeners? Or maybe our opinion is wrong? Whatever it is, most of the songs are still gold from the insides AND the sidelines.
Play it again: “Frozen”
Skip it: “Cut Through The Static”
4. Kings of the New Age (2022)
State Champs are no strangers to collaborations and this, their fourth length studio album “Kings of the New Age” showcases that with features from artists like Mitchell Tenpenny and bands like Four Year Strong, Neck Deep, and Against The Current. It’s definitely a step in the right direction after “Living Proof” and the band literally, uh, proved that they were here to stay. That’s good because they’re good enough, they’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like them. Some minds don’t change but some bands do, and State Champs managed to pull off changing a lot but somehow staying the same… and we like it like that, yeah, baby, we like it like that! Let’s end this section with the beginning: Opening track “Here to Stay” has a killer riff and its execution and guitar tone is far, far more than just sound.
Play it again: “Here to Stay”
Skip it: “Where Were You”
3. State Champs (2024)
Self-titled efforts are effectively a statement from their start and State Champs’ fifth and most recent full-length is a more than solid one. It may not reinvent the wheel of pop-punk but it definitely will run you over and over to your favorite streaming platform to listen and give your .0004 cents to. Songs like “Silver Cloud” and “Light Blue” are undeniably pleasing and the band seemingly had a hell of a time providing each listener a constant refrain to sing. Also, it must be said that the band truly delivers in the best way live, so if you have a chance AND the change to attend a show, check them on their headlining tour supporting this album with openers Knuckle Puck, Meet Me @ The Altar, and Daisy Grenade… So can we get back to basics somehow? Yes. We. Can.
Play it again: “Light Blue”
Skip it: “I Still Want To”
2. “Around the World and Back” (2015)
Sometimes a sophomore album that comes out is essentially the same album as its former on steroids, or whatever performance-enhancing illegal drug the kids are on these days. While, and it semi-pains us to say this but not really, “Around the World and Back” contains “Secrets,” which is the band’s best single in their catalog, the band’s debut album contains zero “skip it” tracks and this one doesn’t. A silver medal is better than a bronze or none, so ATWAB stans should still stay stoked, but we know that they won’t as you readers typically focus on what we gaffed over any agreements, and we hate/don’t blame you for it! By the time this record was released, State Champs was already a headlining band and it was supplanted further by its success…
Play it again: “Secrets”
Skip it: “Tooth and Nail”
1. “The Finer Things” (2013)
If you were lucky enough to go to When We Were Young this past October in Las Vegas then you were treated to State Champs playing their all killer no filler debut full-length studio album “The Finer Things” in full for its eleventh anniversary. Even though “deep breath” gets confused for “dick breath” by a casual listener of TFT, we forgive the entire region of Upstate New York and the art of yoga. Broad/bold statement alert: “The Finer Things” is certainly one of the better pop-punk albums and most certainly one of the more high quality efforts in said genre of the 2010s. Said opinion that doubles as a fact means so much more than normal as the 2010s was EXTREMELY oversaturated with pop punk records.
Play it again: Excellence
Skip it: Nonentities