State Champs break down every song on their new self-titled album

Alternative Press teamed up with State Champs for an exclusive “eco blue” vinyl variant of their self-titled album, limited to 300 copies. Head to the AP Shop to grab yours.

State Champs started off as rowdy newcomers whose massive choruses blended sweetness and grit. The formula played off pop-punk classics — Dookie, Enema of the State, Take This to Your Grave — as their songs carrolled hundreds of millennials into the pit. Over time, they’ve grown into one of the genre’s most beloved forces. Their 2022 LP, Kings of the New Age, established the Albany-bred outfit as leaders as a new generation of pop punk came to the fore, tapping a host of their friends to help spread the message and youthful abandon. It’s only natural that their latest self-titled LP feels like a continuation. Produced by Anton DeLost (Mayday Parade, Hawthorne Heights), State Champs keep the energy high (“Golden Years,” “Clueless”), pumping out slickly produced songs that’ll get a room moving while leaving space for curveballs (“Save Face Story,” a collaboration with German hardcore-funk band Slope).

Read more: 10 criminally underrated blink-182 songs

“We found our way, through the ups and downs within us, personally and as a band, and wanted to express that in this new record,” frontman Derek DiScanio says. “This is the right time to showcase it.” Bassist Ryan Scott Graham adds, “When we stepped back and looked at the songs, sonically and thematically, it’s a great vision of who we are. Every era of State Champs exists within this record.”

Below, State Champs take us through every song on their new self-titled album.