Pop punk and emo are certainly having a moment of renaissance, and we couldn’t be more excited about the new crop of talented national acts emerging from the scene in recent years, chief among them, and certainly skewing more on the pop punk side of the spectrum, State Champs and Neck Deep, who, as we told you awhile back, are currently co-headlining The Alternative Press Tour. Featuring like-minded supporting acts Knuckle Puck and Like Pacific, the trek makes a stop tonight, March 3 at Nashville’s own Rocketown! Grab your tickets here while they last, and read on for full details!
STATE CHAMPS
In just a few short years, breakout New York group State Champs have already cemented their status and pop punk’s rising heir apparent. Exploding onto the scene with their buzzworthy 2013 LP The Finer Things, the young band soon found themselves supporting popular acts like Bayside and We Are the In Crowd, wound up on Warped Tour, and, incredibly, supported mega-famous pop punk boyband 5 Seconds of Summer for a stint of shows overseas. Proving truly here to stay, State Champs dropped an even better, more mature followup album, Around the World and Back, last year and with no signs of slowing down in sight, seem poised to become one of the biggest bands in the scene before you know it.
NECK DEEP
Welsh pop punk group Neck Deep are on a similar career trajectory as State Champs, garnering a ton of buzz, both from fans and critics, in their few short years of existence. Having only formed in 2012, the band exploded onto the scene in 2014 with their debut full-length, Wishful Thinking, then managed to avoid the sophomore slump and one-up themselves with last year’s Life’s Not Out to Get You. Still retaining a decidedly more edgy, upbeat, and punk-rooted sound, the band blend influences of early pop punk acts like Descendants with edgier contemporary artists like The Wonder Years, taking cues from peers All Time Low and New Found Glory for big, catchy hooks and pop sensibilities.
KNUCKLE PUCK
Hailing from Chicago, Knuckle Puck combine elements of emo and pop punk to forge a sound just as buzzy as the evening’s co-headliners, if not slightly more indie and ambitious. Part of the scene’s organic, much-need course correction, which has seen a talented crop of substantive, emo-derived acts pop up in recent years, Knuckle Puck’s debut LP, Copacetic, arrived last year, and has helped bolster their ever-increasing mainstream presence.
LIKE PACIFIC
Canadian pop punk group Like Pacific have the most bite of any band on the bill, trading in sadness for anger for their aggressive, hardcore-infused, anthemic, and melodic sound. The group dropped a self-titled EP last year, and quickly becoming a scene fixture to watch.
State Champs, Neck Deep, Knuckle Puck, and Like Pacific will perform tonight, March 3 at Rocketown. The show is all ages, begins at 6:30 p.m. (doors at 5:30 p.m.), and tickets are available for $20.