“I’ve always hated the phrase ‘pop-punk’,” remarks Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong to Kerrang. “I think it’s a contradiction in terms. Either you’re punk, or you’re not.”
If he’s referring to the uncensored, defiant and downright angry music to have come out of the ‘70s, then he’s right. But while the likes of The Clash, Black Flag and The Sex Pistols kick-started a necessary political and cultural revolution, their brightly burning yet short-lived success shows just how much times have changed.
That defiance and the DIY punk ethic certainly bled into the next wave of influential groups like Green Day, Bad Religion and The Offspring, as well as the likes of Canadian rockers Sum 41, forming in the mid-‘90s. However, with political and psychological change, and a rapid improvement in recording capabilities, those bands naturally had to evolve.
With respect to this, Green Day’s new collection of tunes Revolution Radio harks back to the controversial themes and angst-ridden, lo-fi sound of 2004’s American Idiot, with first single ‘Bang Bang’ taking aim at their home country’s culture of mass shootings.
Yet after not being active for several solid years, Sum 41’s comeback release 13 Voices is a different story. It’s much more personal for a start, exploring frontman Deryck Whibley’s struggles with alcohol addiction. As bassist Jason McCaslin puts it, “A lot of it I think stems from what he has gone through in the last few years. With him being sick and being in the hospital, overcoming it, so there is lyrical content about all that on the record.”
With the addition of strings and a much more atmospheric sound, the band have also clearly departed from that distilled punk vibe, which carried through to fourth release Underclass Hero back in 2007. There are shades of those early years on 13 Voices though, particularly third track ‘Fake My Own Death’ with its raw, anthemic chorus, tunnelling bass, and an overriding sense of familiarity. ‘There Will Be Blood’ is also refreshingly simple, while the dual guitar riffing and blistering nature of the title track are clear highlights.
However, it’s from seventh track ‘War’ onwards where the band’s pop side takes over, with ‘God Save Us All (Death to POP)’ ironically reminiscent of Andy Black’s dance-inducing solo tunes. ‘The Fall And The Rise’, though, briefly brings the punk heaviness back with a combo of sung and rasped vocals. While Whibley delivers some pretty uninspiring lyrics, the infectious and slightly offbeat guitar ultimately renders the song a standout.
Unfortunately, the record doesn’t end on a high, with album-closer ‘Twisted By Design’ sounding almost lazy with its ambient sound and soft vocals. Overall though, 13 Voices is a a solid comeback effort from the five-piece, a testament to the recent resurgence from pop-punk’s older heavyweights.
This revival, also including Blink-182’s seventh album California, is thankfully coming from a fresh wave of young local bands as well – bands whose music is showing a maturity and development on the traditional bratty pop punk formula.
Leading the charge with a round of hard-hitting albums this year are Sydney’s With Confidence, Brisbane boys Columbus, and Trophy Eyes, hailing from Newcastle. It’s the raw vocals, stripped back melodies and pummelling reflection on personal demons and all types of relationships that make these bands relevant. Through both an aggressive sound and by confronting these problems head on, there’s still a defiant honesty – just of a different kind to before.
While US politics and social struggles have long been at the forefront of global attention, most of us in Australia can’t talk about those kinds of issues from firsthand experience. It’s also unlikely that Trophy Eyes would have connected so well to fans overseas – playing last year’s Vans Warped Tour and the UK with Welsh band Neck Deep – through writing about dissatisfaction with Aussie politics.
At its heart, pop-punk allows room for musicians to tackle not only inflammatory political issues but personal ones which are much more relatable. We’ve certainly lost much of that anarchical spirit from the ‘good old days’, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Celebrate Sum 41’s comeback by grabbing a copy of 13 Voices here, out now via Hopeless Records/Unified.
