You may remember me posting these guys on here a while back. Well they’re back and better than ever with 2 new songs from their upcoming EP.
I especially like this song because it’s the perfect balance of neon, rap and ez. That synth breakdown at 2:47 doe!
Edit: they just released this song. More quality #ezneonrap.
It’s pretty easily arguable that all forms of music are derivative so I usually scoff at so-called music scholars proclaiming that a band isn’t worth anything if they aren’t original enough. I think some of the best bands have stolen their sound from another band and lots of them even get pretty popular from doing so as well! Here are some examples:
Emmure (ripped off The Acacia Strain)
The Acacia Strain were somewhat of a game changer in hardcore music. They discovered that if they put their finger on the first fret of the lowest string on their guitar while they were strumming a breakdown (instead of playing both strings open), that it would create a heavier, beefier sounding chug, known as the tritone breakdown (also known in mosh circles as the “brown noise”). Of course, they carpet bombed their music with these types of breakdowns, and rightfully so, those breakdowns made The Acacia Strain known as one of the heaviest bands in the scene! That is, until Emmure came along and just totally blew everything they did out of the water.
Saves The Day (ripped off Lifetime)
Before Saves The Day released what is considered by many to be their magnum opus, “Through Being Cool”, they were actually jocking the sound of a lesser known band called “Lifetime”. This even awarded them the title of “Jersey’s Second Best Dancers” (a parody of Lifetime’s CD “Jersey’s Best Dancers”). What do Lifetime and a discount prostitute have in common? They both gave us an STD.
Capture The Crown (ripped off Asking Alexandria)
Can you say “carbon copy”? But seriously, Capture The Crown did a pretty good job at ripping off Asking Alexandria! I would consider both to have some scene classics under their belt at this point but AA was no doubt the most innovative. It sucks to see the futures of each band be kind of shaky in this post-scenecore day and age. Asking Alexandria lost their singer, and Capture The Crown lost every member but their singer!
Slow down Jeffrey, Tyler’s “gay country shit” is actually really good! (go check it out here)
Sum 41 (ripped off Blink 182)
As a proud Canadian, I got love for Sum 41, but there’s no question that they wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for Blink. Not just in terms of their americanpiecore old school mallpunk sound, but also their whole “young adults into mischief” getup. Like, “watch your back when you’re around us, we might just pull a prank on you!” These are the types of guys you don’t wanna fall asleep around at a party. If you want to see the most random cameo in music video history, peep 2:37 in the Sum 41 video to see DMX show up at the party on a four wheeler. I miss the days when pop punk bands had enough money to destroy an entire house for their music video.
Jawbreaker (ripped off Green Day)
If you wanna go suuuuper old school within the pop punk genre, then we could discuss a band called Jawbreaker, and how they used to jock Green Day’s sound back in the day. To be honest I don’t think either of these bands are catchy enough to be considered pop punk. I would go more with “melodic punk” or something along those lines (the types of bands that are jocked by beards on punknews.org).
The Wonder Years (ripped off Simple Plan)
The Wonder Years have built a strong fanbase among rejects over the years with their underdog persona. They even made their mascot a pigeon because pigeons are the most disrespected animal or something. But long before The Wonder Years were doing the whole “if you’re a loser, you’re not alone, I’m also a loser!” shtick, Simple Plan were catering to the outcast emo masses in a much bigger way. Plus lyrically, TWY jocks SP in an almost plagiaristic sort of fashion (example: “I’m Just A Kid” is basically just a G-rated version of “Local Man Ruins Everything”). I guess Good Charlotte also had the whole outcast/loner angle, but I think TWY jocked SP a bit more than they did GC.
Turnstile (ripped off Mest)
The riffs at the beginning of each of these songs are practically the same. So much so, that if Mest wanted to sue, they probably could (and win), but that wouldn’t be very punk rock of them. I think the Turnstile riff is more of a homage. A homage to a band that has infinite more street cred than they could ever dream of having. I mean, just look at the singer and how fucked up he is.
What are your favorite rip off bands? Do you think often times these bands are better than the bands they’re ripping off? Do you think Turnstile bumps Mest in their cadillac?
If you miss Abandon All Ships, old Attack Attack, Skip The Foreplay (underrated band imo), then I have good news for you, this band is doing what those bands did, just 4-5 years behind… and they’re pretty damn good at it too!
All of the classic elements are there… the breakdowns, the autotune, the trance synths. I like how they also added some dubstep in there so they could sound semi-dated and not just super dated. Seems like they’ve got the image down pat too.
This song is super sick too. The build-up at 1:32 is so epic. It seems like these guys are really taking the electronic thing to a new level, sort of like what I See Stars did on their last album. Speaking of which, is I See Stars still relevant?
Also, apparently they’re on tour with some band whose name I can’t decipher from their logo.
When we last heard from Pizzan0mics, he gave us a comprehensive guide to the pop punk scene in mainland Europe . Well now he is back again to share his knowledge about the pop punk scene in his native country, and how the tr00nami has effected it more-so than continental Europe.
The United Kingdom was once a prosperous nation, filled with many talented and groundbreaking bands that held up against their American counterparts, whilst retaining some of their original British charm. However, after the tr00nami of 2012 hit, everything changed. Many of the older bands were washed away after the disaster and were simply forgotten about, and everybody had to work together to rebuild a music scene. Neck Deep were the first band to come to prominence, seemingly coming from nowhere. They established the new self-declared independent nation of The Tr00nited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and gave hope to everyone that wished to start a new band.
With a new nation formed and new set of pop punk guidelines to follow, a new batch of bands started to gain traction and wowed the population with their innovation. Here are some of these bands…
Roam
First up we have Roam, known for stealing their name from that song by The Story So Far. If you take them at face-value, you’ll see a band who sound like the love child of Neck Deep and The Story So Far, except with a vocalist that actually has a voice that’s nice to listen to. The mixing on their music is also really nice too. I can clearly hear their guitars, which is something that took Neck Deep two releases to sort out. Although I’m not the biggest fan of these guys, 2:23 – 2:51 in the video above is probably my favourite moment in any pop punk song by a Tr00-K band. It sounds similar to what new Such Gold sounds like, and I wish more bands would move in that kind of direction.
Which pop punk band do they sound like the most?: The Story So Far but with vocals like State Champs
Tr00ness out of 10: 7/10
Six Times Champion
The first thing I think when I listen to these guys is that this is what Me Vs Hero’s second album should have sounded like. There’s a few faux-breakdowns in there to keep the most devoted Tr00-K citizens away, and the vocals are strong and compliment the instruments. Points deducted for not having an American accent and trying to put in a breakdown – technically they pull it off but I know all the #ez revivalists out there would scoff at their attempt.
Their merch looks too fun and stands out against traditional tr00 merchandise.
Which pop punk band do they sound like the most?: Me Vs Hero
Tr00ness out of 10: 5/10
These Minds
Heavily edited video? Check. Instrumentals that sound like The Story So Far? Check. Really weak lyrics? Check. This band couldn’t get more tr00 if they tried. Although the lyrics could be a little bit better, they’ve got the pop punk formula nailed. Now all they need is some plain, maroon merch with a pocket logo to help them stand out even more than they do already. Forming just over two months ago, they’ve managed to get on two small yet relatively popular pop punk festivals in the Tr00-K and they haven’t even played a show yet. Beats me. These guys aren’t bad, but they’re definitely nothing special. 2/10 wouldn’t recommend.
Which pop punk band do they sound like the most?: The Story So Far
Tr00ness out of 10: 9/10
Boston Manor
With the least tr00 vocals out of any band on this list, Boston Manor’s vocalist can actually sing and doesn’t need to properly shout in order to sound good. Their lyrics also make sense, which unfortunately isn’t very tr00 either. Similar to Six Time Champion, they look like they’re having fun in their video which isn’t encouraged in the Tr00nited Kingdom. Their video could probably do with a bit less saturation and it needs the letter box effect. Good attempt at being pop punk, poor attempt at being tr00.
Which pop punk band do they sound like the most?: Roam’s version of The Story So Far
Tr00ness out of 10: 6/10
Best Years
Not many bands can pull off buying facebook likes and not make it seem obvious, and these guys are no exception. They have more likes than Trash Boat by about 100, yet they’re nowhere near as popular. They also seem to get a stupid amount of likes on statuses that the put out. If we skirt around that minor blip, we’ve got an extremely unique band on our hands. Almost as unique as Roam, except with vocals that aren’t that great. They’re not bad, but they could definitely be more tr00, so I’m going to have to deduct points for this.
Which pop punk band do they sound like the most?: The Story So Far
Tr00ness out of 10: 7/10
Trash Boat
Knuckle Puck were a band from Chicago, Illinois who recently moved to the Tr00nited Kingdom and got face transplants and adopted British accents, then started a band called Trash Boat. If we ignore the fact that this song sounds identical to No Good, the vocals are very Parker Cannon-esque, which probably helped them get signed to Hopeless, since they seem to be all over Tr00-K bands at the moment. I know Facebook likes don’t matter, but these guys managed to get signed with just over 2,000 likes. How on earth did they get found? They recently toured Europe with As It Is and Trophy Eyes which may have something to do with it, although they’re both signed to Hopeless so I reckon the deal was already done before they went. The music video is also eerily similar to Bellwether’s video for ‘Compromise’.
Which pop punk band do they sound like the most?: Knuckle Puck
Tr00ness out of 10: 8/10
It looks like there is a correlation between tr00ness of pop punk and neatness of handwriting.
Waster
This band is 2tr002betrue. Ben Barlow from The Neck Deeps might as well be singing, and the instrumentals sound like Neck Deep too. Granted, they did record with Ben’s brother so they might sound a bit similar in that sense, but Graveyard Shift genuinely sounds like a Wishful Thinking B-side. Ben even makes a cameo in the video. I also get the impression that these guys think they are from America, since at one point the lyrics are: “And I never got a college degree”. Well, in the Tr00-K you don’t get a degree from college… You get one from University. Also major cliché lyrics throughout the rest of the song (with an American accent) about wanting to break-away from their hometown, a staple of tr00. Unfortunately they will probably be the next pop punk band from the Tr00-K to get signed, which is a shame because I think there are a lot more bands out there that deserve it.
Which pop punk band do they sound like the most?: Neck Deep
Tr00ness out of 10: 10/10
So there we have it. This is the state UK was left in post-tr00nami. Please send aid in the form of Cap’n Crunch, synth, and pool parties with Abandoned By Bears playing.
FFO: Kyle Fasel, Basement Emo, Listener, Hotel Books etc
Y’all thought it was a good idea to show off ya asses at first? /
Lookin like you’re ready to get cavity searched?
How you gonna explain to ya friends that you got slaughtered by a rock blogger? /
Y’all used the set from Hot Tub Time Machine…
ironic cause I’m about to land these 4 dudes in hot water
(get ready boi)
son, you look like Alex Gaskarth if he was a fan of Nascar /
behind the scenes, you and ya band mates probably practice land sharks
(it’s a sex act, look it up boi)
I’m coming with fire cause I rhyme and rap a lot /
playing drums in front of the fire is the only time your ass is hot
after I first watched the video, I didn’t write any hair lines /
then I paused the video… and yikes @ that hairline
I like how you use that cymbal for your rear to go down the hill /
it’s just a symbol your career is going downhill (omg)
Ya bitch thirsty, she was beggin me to be friends /
I sled into her DMs while you were sleddin wit ya geek friends
(ya I rhymed friends with friends IDGAF)
I thought I was watchin a tween punk vid but I must have been misinformed /
cuz this looks like y’all are trying to finish a porn (dead)
how you gonna solo outside in the fuckin winter… wit ya numb ass fingers /
I’ma really make this bum ass shiver once I shove him into that dumb ass river
okay, I’ll admit that this guy’s kind of bold /
for trying to wank outside in the cold
(too bad you can’t get hard though boi)
I’m roasting y’all like those flames do, if you rebut, you’re a damn liar
there’s so much heat in my circle, everyone in my camp’s fire (omg)
where’s ya marshmellows at boi? why you burnin’ a stick? /
my wood is burning too… cause of ya dirty ass bitch /
it all started after I served her my dick /
she gave me gonorrhea, now it burns when I piss
(best scheme of 2k15)
I’ll take that guitar right out ya hands cause that’s how much this guy is blowing /
put it to good use, like “we need more wood to keep the fire going“
this guy lookin’ like it’s still 2002 with those pins on his strap /
ya bitch is into rough sex… with the pins and the straps
all ya drumming’s wack… you even suck wit ya best efforts /
I’ll take that saw and chop your arm off… now you the drummer of Def Leppord
(he’s still better tho)
all my verses are devastating like when soldiers die in war /
I just bodied your whole squad… da fuck you smilin for?
#ez revivalists rejoice!
LOL. “Do you have the lyrics on your phone bro?” (actual quote from the video)
I gave a pass to people who jocked Brand New when I was in grade 9 cause that’s when they were still somewhat kinda hot but this whole tumblr brigade of BN worship of the past few years… just no. Lol. That’s what you get for going to a Brand New show in 2015.
“15 year olds are so annoying”
- 16 year old
“retweet if you’re a pop punk hipster”
looks like someone didn’t stay posi brah
“I apologize to you all for becoming posers”
what’s wrong with the world? clearly not famine, diseases, disasters, war etc.
“…and of course State Champs merch has just plummeted in the swap market. If you want some cheap SC merch, now is the time.”
Yikes. It’s like he’s moving backwards because it seems like not long ago he was failing at being tr00. Or maybe he’s just super advanced and he’s actually moving forward? Also, what happened to his lip? Was he doing the Kylie Jenner lip challenge thing? Regardless, shout-outs to Bryan for giving us this SYWH throwback.
If you read pizzan0mics’ last post, then you can see that the UK has been washed up by the tr00nami pretty hard. But there is still hope for the tr00-K… and that hope comes in the form of a band called As It Is!
Totally sounds like something off Fearless Records roster circa 2009. Except that it’s from Fearless Records circa 2015! Gets kinda angsty/tr00 at 1:55 with borderline braying donkey vocals but overall this is very upbeat and fun.
What’s also great about them is that the singer is so dedicated to the “fake american accent” thing that he uses it in not only his singing voice, but also in his talking voice! Now that’s advanced.
Go check out As It Is on Facebook.
not sheriff super advanced or rise records back burner circa 2011
When I first got into the music scene, most kids who went to a lot of shows could fall into one of two categories: those who were into fake/mall emo (The Used, Silverstein etc) and those who were into OG mosh (Hatebreed, Throwdown). So basically you were either a tough guy or a pussy. I never felt like I fit into either of these categories, but in retrospect I’m probably mostly just a pussy. Well, if fake emo/mall screamo is making a comeback, then maybe OG moshcore can too. I mean, Expire is only a few open string breakdowns away from sounding like these bands, so who knows. If this stuff DOES become trendy again, then here is a list of super unknown bands you can’t flaunt to your friends
Death Sentence were beyond heavy and it sucks that they’re so unheard of. Having a super generic ass name doesn’t help their popularity either and makes them hard to search for (the first thing that popped up when I searched “death sentence band” on YouTube was this rly bad recordcollectorcore band from the early 80′s). They have a few other songs you can listen to on their MySpace. Goodluck finding one of their albums or demos or whatever though. Also, this is probably the best band on the list, so if you think these guys suck then you should probably stop reading now.
These guys look like the typical tough guy hardcore kids who would wear gym shorts 24/7 and try to look intimidating at shows but secretly hid in their room and cried while listening to Saosin albums when no one was around. Pretty sweet lyrics in this song, “I’m bigger than Hitler and I’m bigger than JEEESSUS”.
To be honest, I have no idea who these guys are/were, I just think “Speechless At Gunpoint” is an amazing band name.
See above ^. Someone really needs to start a band in this vein called “Bust A Cap In Your Ass”.
These guys were kinda popular locally, across the river from where I live (on the French side, grose). It reminds me of this one time I saw this French dude at a show wearing Throwdown shirt and walking around with a cane, which he apparently had with him for street cred.
tfw the only person who has your band’s tattoo is a member of your band. In this picture we are presented with a tough guy conundrum: do you let your leg hair continue to get in the way of your ink, or do you shave your legs like a girl?
These guys were pretty sweet and I think their songs were a bit better written than lots of moshcore bands. They sound like they have been able to play their instruments for at least a year before this recording.
I’M MOSHING. These guys have some of the better mosh riffs I’ve heard. Unfortunately, like a lot of these bands, the production could be better. Dat key change at 1:57 doe!
This band is pre-Trapped Under Ice. You can hear a lot of TUI in their music, which I guess maybe makes them Real Hardcore™, not OG moshcore, but whatever.
These guys don’t really have anything that stands out about them. Then again, neither do most bands on this list hence why this is a “bands that never went anywhere” list. Their breakdowns go p hard tho.
BACK OF THA NECK. The wignorance is strong in this one. Although apparently this band started as a joke according to their last.fm page.
Have you ever even heard of any of these bands? Are there are any forgotten OG mosh bands that you like? Do you still own your black combat hat and camo shorts from 2003? Did you take things too far and get a regrettable brass knuckles tattoo?
I love this song. They have come a long way since being a mid tier TSSFcore band. I like how they keep getting poppier. If they continue progressing at this rate their fourth album will sound like Ariana Grande. Congratulations Neck Deep!
The best part is at the end when he does a Downfall Of Us All/Stick Stickly mash-up and unintentionally creates #ezcrab.
Despite having a name that epitomizes the words “generic metalcore”, For The Fallen Dreams was actually a pretty unique band. They started off playing “old school deathcore” and probably could have rode that train to mild success (they probably needed a bit more “br00tal” of a name though), but instead they said “fuck it” and pioneered their own genre, which eventually became known on here as “srscore”, also known as “meaningful mosh” (or as I liked to call it “melodic moshcore”). They gained quite a bit of popular, then had like 50 lineup changes and now probably have the most ex-members of any band besides Liferuiner (that’s a whole other story). I’m not sure if they’re even that relevant today but kids back then felt the urge to copy them. (yeah I know I used quotation marks like 50 times in this paragraph, IDGAF) ((I use parentheses a lot too))
TFW euros jock your sound! The melodic leads and breakdowns w/gang vox remind me of a lot of FTFD’s first album “Changes”. The whole “let’s really slow things down and get sort br00tal to show that we’re not just pussies” breakdown at 2:09 is also a signature element of FTFD.
These guys are srs business. I love the scene hair/basketball jersey combo that the singer is rocking. These guys incorporate a bit of clean singing into the music like FTFD eventually did.
Those words wouldn’t hold much weight in the court of mosh.
I didn’t know any of these types of bands made it to a label, but apparently these guys did, so props to them! To be honest, whatever they were trying to achieve with those creepy sound effects in the middle of the song kinda failed. Sounds like something they’d play inside a haunted house ride at the fair. But the breakdowns still go hard so it’s all hood.
You’d have to be delusional (no pun intended) to think that a band like this was made specifically to sell records. They were obviously made specifically to sell youth large t-shirts and rubber wristbands.
I’ve been concerned for the future of scenecore for quite some time now but now that 3 of the biggest bands in the scene have just released new tracks, I think we can get a pretty good feel for the state of the genre.
First off, I just wanna say that Denis Shaforostov, now known as Denis Stoff (I guess he changed his name to sound more Anglo) is one lucky dude. It seems like the band he was in before he replaced Danny as the vocalist for AA really wasn’t going anywhere. And now he’s the front-man for one of the biggest bands in the genre. How AA became one of the biggest bands in the genre is baffling to some, considering they started out as a British Attack Attack rip off band (at times in a very literal sense). Then Attack Attack slowly lost relevance and broke up while Asking Alexandria catapulted their way to the top. It’d basically be like if Neck Deep got 20 times bigger than The Story So Far and then TSSF disbanded and became borderline forgotten. I think Denis’ old band Make Me Famous copied quite a bit from Asking Alexandria so I guess it’s like a dude cheating off a dude who cheated off a dude in an exam. Nothing wrong with that, they all got high grades IMO. The question is will they be able to remain relevant? Or will the hype only fade? This song is pretty watered down and boring to me and I wish they would go back to tr00 scenecore but I guess tr00 scenecore might not be what kids want to hear these days. Seems as if their party days are over. Srs/meaningful rock songs only.
Speaking of tr00 scenecore, I’ve got to hand it to Memphis May Fire, they seem to really not want to back down from their OG risecore sound. Perhaps they have noticed the dangers of bands changing their sound because it can jeopardize their fan-base (like when Four Year Strong went dad rock for one album). Perhaps Matty already fulfills all his desires to make frivolous music through his solo material. I predict that Memphis May Fire will become the Pennywise of scenecore and just keep releasing the same album over and over. Unfortunately this album includes high levels of mediocrity and often times cringey lyrics. But it’s still tr00 risecore so I commend them for that. No traces of hard rock or nu-metal to be found.
Speaking of hard rock, WOW, We Came As Romans totally ditched their scenecore roots on this new song, which I can’t find on YouTube so here’s a video of a guy reviewing it (link to the song is here). No dirty vocals. No breakdowns. Minimal synth. Are We Came As Romans even relevant anymore? Their last album charted a lot higher than I thought it would (8 on billboard) but at the same time, it seems like not many people really care about them or talk about them anymore ever since their original fan-base decided to start jocking La Dispute and Touche Amore or whatever other wannabe-euro tumblrcore act. I predict that they will become the Nickelback of scenecore. Like, a super big band but hard to trace where the massive fan-base is coming from.
So that’s my take on it. What are your opinions on these bands’ new songs? Are you anticipating any of their new albums?
This band is best known for their R&B cover of About That Life by Attila, so I was unsure of how good their original material would be, but they just released a new video and it’s actually really sweet! The R&Bcore genre is still so small so I hope these guys can help move it forward.
I’ve always thought originality was the single most overrated element to music. Like, if I really like a band, I will want to extend their discography by adding a bunch of bands that sound like them, you know? Luckily, this has been happening to me more and more with bands trying to sound like A DAY TO REMEMBER, and what better band is there to sound like other than ADTR? (rhetorical question, there is no better band)
Many people would probably classify WE FALL AS ONE from France as an #ezcrab band, and they wouldn’t totally be wrong – some of the sound effects on the vocals and breakdowns are very crabby, but I definitely hear a strong ADTR influence. The singer kinda scares me haha, he’s getting too excited.
I discovered STAY TRUE on Spotify and I’ve been pretty hooked ever since. They were supposed to release an album late last year that never came out, so hopefully they eventually get it out there.
MY LIFE FOR HIRE loves A Day To Remember, so much so that they named themselves after one of their songs! Brb, searching for bands named after all the other song titles on Homesick.
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC was produced by Andrew Wade, so that would explain any similarities these guys have to ADTR production-wise. I hope REAL FRIENDS fans stumble upon this video and immensely improve their music taste. Also, I would prob like this song even more if it wasn’t released on BryanStars’ YouTube channel.
My best friend is obviously you, Bryan!
I don’t think SIX STORIES UNKNOWN have quite perfected their craft yet, but they definitely show promise! They’re from Sweden, I wonder if they’re friends with ABANDONED BY BEARS?
I literally just discovered CHIN UP, KID because one of the band members posted on Facebook that they were opening for FOUR YEAR STRONG so I decided to check them out, and I’m glad I did! I love the key change that happens towards the end of the song. I think key changes sound epic when bands know how to utilize them properly.
I couldn’t find HEAVY HEARTED on any social media, so I’m not sure if they’re a band anymore, which is a shame because they had a lot of potential! You can download this EP for free on their bandcamp, and the other one costs money, but I’m sure you could find it for free on Soulseek or some blog or something.
The reception has been mixed for IT’S A LONG STORY, but personally I think they’re great. There’s a lot of suspense building up to when the vocals kick in, because you can’t tell if the breakdown is in minor key or major key. Which key is it gonna be?
I have saved the best for last – WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE. This song is sooo good, sounds like it could be on Homesick. The chorus uses the same chord progression as half of the songs on the first half of Homesick (tracks 2-4). (Fun fact: this has been dubbed the “sensitive female chord progression”.) It’s no surprise that these guys are also produced by Andrew Wade. I will be on the lookout for their upcoming debut album.
What was your favorite band on this list? Do you think sounding like ADTR will ever become a big trend? What are some other bands you like that sound like ADTR?
