#State Champs Band

[letsmakepoppunkgreatagain]

State Champs - Too Late To Say

[fuckloveihavemusic]

State Champs - Time Machine

[ghost-onthealtar]

Save Face Story

[smahccked]

thinking too hard about sad summer 2022

[akwardlyuncool]

Sitting To Know Your Collection November (24) Round Up

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Sitting To Know Your Collection: Week 45 (November 4th - November 10th)

Album: Revolution Radio (2016) by Green Day Play Count: 3 Top 2 Tracks: - Outlaws (Track 5) - Ordinary World (Track 12)

I promise I didn’t spend my whole 2024 listening to Green Day, but I did allow more than I probably would have otherwise (in regards to this project) simply because these are special times. Honestly I probably would have spun again for this week, but since I didn't know this one too well, it was okay to spin them twice this year. When I first heard Revolution Radio back in 2016, I thought it sounded the most like American Idiot, but now I think it just a progression of the band, with elements of the past. It sounds a lot like Saviors or Saviors sounds a lot like it. All that tells me is that although things can sound like the past, we shouldn’t hold bands or records to that, because then all we’d do is compare forever.

It sounds like a Green Day album and fits right in line with the rest of their discography. I think this was a good time to dive into the album anyway, because I skipped seeing them tour it in 2016 since I thought the tickets were too expensive and didn’t want to go to an arena show and now that I’ve done both of those things in the name of getting to see Green Day live, it just made sense. Anyway I liked it just as much as I’ve liked any of their other releases from the last decade, Revolution Radio us probably heading that list now.

Sitting To Know Your Collection: Week 46 (November 11th - November 17th)

Album: State Champs (2024) by State Champs Play Count: 4 Top 2 Tracks: - Clueless (Track 3) - Hell Of It (Track 6)

I didn’t wait for the wheel to spin this one, I bumped it to the front of the line shortly after getting my copy in the mail. This album is so good and I had such a nice time playing it during it's week, that when I ended the project for 2024 in December, it was the one that remained in my car well into January. They have the formula for solid pop punk down and the band just keeps getting better. This is the album where the binge just kept going and I imagine will continue down the line, deep into 2025.

PS: Clueless is the perfect teen movie track and I’m saving it for if I ever get to make the soundtrack for a coming of age, teen movie.

Sitting To Know Your Collection: Week 47 (November 18th - November 24th)

Album: White Blood Cells (2001) by The White Stripes Play Count: 2 Top 2 Tracks: - The Union Forever (Track 7) - We’re Gonna Be Friends (Track 9)

Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy The White Stripes, but as I was listening, I felt like I wasn’t cool enough for this album. That happens to me from time to time, where the music sounds too cool for me, so I kinda feel out of place with it, even though I’m really into it. It has that hard folky rock sound that attracts me, so I think that just means I just need to continue listening to them and get more comfortable. It for sure sounds like a White Stripes album, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, they know what works. There are good songs on this record, but to be generic We’re Gonna Be Friends, does what it needs to do every single time. Only got a couple runs, but it was enough to catch the vibes.

Sitting To Know Your Collection: Week 48 (November 25th - December 1st)

Album: Aquarium (1997) by Aqua Play Count: 1 and some change Top 2 Tracks: - My Oh My (Track 2) - Be A Man (Track 7)

This is the last album I listened to as part of Sitting To Know Your Collection 2024. Although it didn’t get much more than a single run, I feel like I’m okay with that because I had put it on a few weeks prior while I was cataloging things. I love this album. The whole thing is true 90’s electric, dance-pop and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of revisiting it, even though I’m not big on dance/electronica music. My Oh My hits harder now that I’m an adult, cause he’s like “I don’t want to rule, I want to be Robin Hood” and I’m like sucks for love, but I support that lol. A fun way to close out this project, challenge, whatever you want to call it for 2024.

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The Playlist!

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I really enjoyed this challenge and want to make a whole post talking about my favorite albums of the year, what I leaned and even talk about what's next. That will have to wait though, cause I got Akward Class Favorites 2024 to run through real quick first. I'm glad I saw it through and I thank you for checking it out.

[neckdeepinurmum]

[letsmakepoppunkgreatagain]

State Champs - Too Late To Say

[alwaysgroundedband]

Carry On -Always grounded

[ghost-onthealtar]

x

[binders-and-beanies]

Neck Deep - A Part of Me // State Champs - Everybody But You ft. Ben Barlow

[akwardlyuncool]

Class Favorites: Albums

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State Champs - State Camps

This album came out in October, so I wasn't sure that it would even kinda qualify, that was until I spent the whole end of the year with it. I 1000% believe that this record deserves the Self-Titled name. It does them all of the justice, produces hit after hit, and even the tracks that I thought aren't as good as the others during single time, turn out to be favorites when paired with the whole record. (I'm looking at you Light Blue.) Y'all know that I love my State Champs and I kinda slacked on their last album when it first came out, but this one I didn't wait to be proven right. My only soft regret is that they were on tour a week after the album released and I didn't go because it was set to be cold and I didn't know the album yet. Mistakes all around, cause even if I didn't know much from this one, I would have known just about everything else on that set list and I still would have gotten to hear my new faves. But hey there's always next tour.

This album is some of modern Pop-Punk's finest. If you've been following State Champs and if you haven't, I'll tell you that they keep getting better. Their first album The Finer Things will always be top tier, but they've consistently worked to be their own best competition and this album just furthers proves that. Don't sleep on it.

Top 4 Tracks: (This was harder than I thought.)

Clueless (Track 3)

Too Late To Say (Track 5)

Hell Of It (Track 6)

Light Blue (Track 4) - I'm just so in love with that opening bit.

PS: Trust me I hear you on the song Sobering and if I wasn't so in love with the first part of Light Blue, it would have made top 4.

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The Crucible of Life - The Home Team

If you didn't catch what I said about this album in one of my Sitting To Know Your Collection roundups for 2024, I'll just let you know that it's a really groovy album. You're gonna dance and get a little spicy at the same time. It has the heavy elements many of us want as well. There are a few songs that I'm still fully learning, but I wasn't going to let the year pass without giving this album it's proper shout out. I spent so much time catching TikTok teasers and playing Walk This World With Me on repeat until I got the CD and really sat with it. The Home Team had a really great 2024 and I was actively paying attention. Like with State Champs I didn't get to see them live, so that's a bummer, but singing in my car had to have been some sort of show if you ask me.

PS: To whoever made the album artwork, your placement of "The" in The Home Team irritates me to no end.

Top 4 Tracks:

Walk This World With Me (Track 8)

Love & Co (Track 3)

Brag (Track 2)

Somebody Else's Face ft. Broadside (Track 7)

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SHIMMER.SEASON- Not My Weekend (Released November 2023)

I placed this as a secondary album in 2023 because it came out super late.. Fast forward to 2024, I felt it deserved to be moved up a notch. Lightning was my most listened to song on one of my Spotify's and I just kept going back to this album and finding pockets of time to have it on repeat. Similar to the last time I talked about SHIMMER.SEASON, I rarely if ever listened to it in order. I either play all the songs I have saved and then go search the ones I'm "missing" or just have it on shuffle. It's only playing in order as I'm writing this review. Regardless though, I think I've grasped the vibe enough and if I haven't, I still have, because almost every song has had it's full day in the sun and them some. I'm not tired of this thing and I'm actually a little upset because they won't give it to me on CD. If you need something fun, something you can jump and dance to, Pop-y Pop Punk, this is definitely for you.

They did release a deluxe edition in 2024, but that no CD deal still bothers me, so I haven't checked it out yet. Maybe in 2025 I'll get with the program.

Top 4 Tracks:

LIGHTING ft. Brian Butcher (Track 7)

AMERICAN.DREAM (Track 8)

SHUT.UP (Track 9)

KNOCK.ME.OUT ft. Kellin Quinn (Track 4)

[poppunkhiker]

The Front Bottoms - 9/14/24

[raging-violets]

Around The World And Back // Kiley // Big Time Rush

A/N: Inspired by State Champs’ song “Around The World and Back”. (Btw, @partiallypearl that and State Champs' song 'Half Empty' are totally Kiley songs. I'm also doing a ficlet/one-shot based on 'Half Empty' and I'm thinking of re-writing Give Your Heart A Break ).

Set between S2's Big Time Move and S3's Big Time Returns. Specifically, it’s where BTR and Jax have just finished their Hawaii trip where BTR shoot their music video for ‘Windows Down’ and BTR and Jax are about to split up at the airport where BTR are going on their “All Over The World tour” (just before BTMovie) and Jax are starting their 6-month break in home in Australia before eventually going back to LA and reuniting in BTReturns.

For anyone wondering, I am also working on Patie stuff.

Pairs: Kiley friendship with tinge of romance

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A/N: Inspired by State Champs’ song “Around The World and Back”. Set between Big Time Move and Big Time Returns. Specifically, it’s where BTR and Jax have just finished their Hawaii trip where BTR shoot their music video for ‘Windows Down’ and BTR and Jax are about to split up at the airport where BTR are going on their “All Over The World tour” and Jax are starting their 6-month break in home in Australia before eventually going to LA.

So this is Kiley romance and friendship for where it’s set, with a sprinkling of Patie and Rhogan.

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Leaving Hawaii was easy.

Easier than anyone would think leaving paradise would be. Because there were too many exciting things on the horizon. The start of the All Over the World Tour, the first big tour that Big Time Rush were going on.

They were the headliners; they were the ones people were going to see. They were the ones that the fans would be chanting, screaming, shouting for, enough to blow the speakers of their sound production and blow the roof off their tour arenas.

It was exciting.

It was so hard.

Because the other side of the coin was Jax, formerly known as the DarkElements were going on their six-month hiatus. Going underground. Going into hiding. Or, if one wanted to see it a different way, stepping out into the light. It was all over the world now, the news of the big secret they’d been hiding for years. The secret of the abuse and neglect they’d endured for years from their manager as they worked their way up in the music industry. It was out there and they needed to wait for the reactions to subside before coming out the other side like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

A not so missed metaphor in all the articles and online postings as their albums were released under Phoenix Records. The irony was never lost to them once one publication made the oh so clever connection and the others piled on.

Even Ronan rolled his eyes at that, and it was his damn company.

The night before they left, Big Time Rush, Jax, Gustavo, Kelly, Mrs. Knight, and Ronan had dinner together. They were excited. They were sad. They shared pictures and memories of their trip and promised the tour dates they were going to watch live.

The hours ticked by and, eventually, everyone started to go to sleep. Kendall, though, found himself trying to stay awake as long as he could. Riley, ever the night owl, stayed up with him as they talked about everything but the flights they were about to take the next morning, taking them in separate directions.

Two full years of being by each other’s side at every step of the musical journey of making it big and one flight was going to change that.

So they continued to talk about everything that’d happened over their time in Hawaii, some of their memories of Minnesota and Australia, shared heart-to-hearts of their fears of what would happen on their tour and their time off.

Would BTR succeed?

“You guys are going to do awesome,” Riley reassured him, gently shaking her head once his worries were expressed. He’d asked it quietly, arms wrapped around his knees, as if afraid of putting it out there was going to jinx them, “What if the tour doesn’t do well?”

Did Jax’s admission ruin their career?

Kendall had reached out and grabbed Riley’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “You guys told the world something you’ve been holding onto for a long time. If anyone can get through that, it’s you. And if anyone says anything bad about it, they’ve got to answer to me.”

Finally, sleep became too much to ignore and they went to their separate rooms. Though Kendall was sure Riley was going to stay up nevertheless, unable to turn off the protective big sister mode to ensure her siblings, her family was safe.

He knew the feeling well.

Still, they went to sleep, and the next morning Mrs. Knight and Kelly got everyone organized and together to head off to the airport. With Logan’s insistence on following a schedule for optimizing their lead in time for connecting flights (even factoring in times for the moaning and groaning that came with it) they arrived at the airport.

Going through security was an event in itself (which Logan had also factored into their timetable) with James repeatedly having to pack and unpack his Cuda products to determine which ones would be left behind with TSA (that included a lot of shrieking and screaming as the group worked to determine which of his he needed to part with), Carlos’s shrieking laughter of being tickled as he and his helmet was patted down by TSA, Gustavo and Katie both being stopped with making loud (Gustavo) and snarky (Katie) comments on ‘blowing up the plane’ as they were pulled aside for extra screening, Kelly waving paper checks around to make it all go away, Ronan’s frustrations for everyone to ‘sit down and shut up’, Logan’s smug remarks of ‘check’ every time he marked something off the time table when they were stopped, Noah’s flat comment that if any of them were going to be detained he was surprised it wasn’t himself and his siblings, and Mrs. Knight’s screaming of ‘enough!’ to get everyone to fall back in line.

Finally, the bags were checked and sorted, and they got to the portion of the airport that would have them split up. Big Time Rush and co. going left to get on a plane to London and Jax and Ronan going right to get on a plane to Sydney.

They all started to hug each other goodbye, Kendall positioning himself so that he’d get to Riley last. (Also so that he could keep an eye on Katie as Patrick wrapped his arms around her, tucking her face into his shoulder as they said goodbye. There was going to be no ‘goodbye kiss’ between them on his watch.)  He said goodbye to each of the Jacksons in turn, going from Sydney, to Noah, to Rhuben, to Patrick, gave his mom space for her and Ronan to say their goodbyes, then moved to Riley.

She turned her attention to him, brushing her black/red strands out of her blue eyes as they trained onto him. Her lips turned up into her smirk-smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Sadness forming there. He was sure his own eyes showed the same.

With a sigh, he hiked his pink backpack up his shoulder, fingers tapping on the straps as he tried to figure out what to say.

For that long moment, neither of them said anything, their silence filled with unspoken words and shared memories. After two years he wasn’t going to be going on tour with his best friend and that was…weird.

Riley, unable to deal with the silence much longer, spoke first. “So, you decided to go with the pink one, huh?” Her eyes shifted from his face to his backpack.

“A fan gave it to me,” he replied, a little defensively. But mostly relieved that she spoke first. If she hadn’t…he wasn’t sure what would’ve come out of his mouth. So many options but…nothing seemed right.

“And you like your pink drinks, too,” she replied. “I’m starting to sense there’s a theme here, yeah?”

“I agree.” He puffed out his chest. “Pink is a manly color.”

Riley laughed. She brushed a pigtail over her shoulder. “I reckon I should’ve styled you guys in pink for this tour, then.” She shrugged modestly. “Though I have to admit, I really out did myself this time.”

“I like what you came up with, Riles. It’s really good,” Kendall said, thinking of the outfits she’d designed and had gotten okayed by Gustavo for the tour. (After multiple rejections of previous designs and threats on his life). “And I like the black and red. It’ll be like you’re onstage with us. Like you should be.” He let out a long sigh. “I wish you were.” I wish you were going. I wish you’d be there the whole time. I wish you were… So many things he wished, he was sure it was flashing over his face as he looked at her from beneath his eyelashes.

“I know,” she said softly. “I wish I was, too. But we’ll go to a show, we’ll be there in LA when you lot get back…” she ran a hand through her hair, hiding her face for a moment. “We can still talk.”

Kendall smiled.

Talking is what they did best.

Hours could go by in what felt like minutes when they were talking, he could get everything he’d ever felt out when they were talking, he could get advice without realizing he was asking for it or wanting it when they were talking. He could be…him when they were talking.

And he always looked forward to it.

“Well, you have to tell us everything that’s going on with your music,” Kendall said. “Even if you take a break.”

“So long as you tell us everything about what’s going on, on tour.” She held up a hand. “We’ve got a bet going that you’ll be arrested at least once in every country you go to.”

Kendall made a sound of offense. “We’re not that bad.”

“I don’t know, boofhead, international laws aren’t very forgiving.” She gestured with her head. “You just saw what happened with Gustavo and Katie. And that was them barely getting past causing a international disaster.” She laughed to herself. “And I don’t know if Logan’s made time on your guys’ itinerary for jail tours.”

“You have a real active imagination.”

Her face screwed up knowingly. “Do I?”

At that, he laughed. “You’re not funny.”

“I’m hysterical.”

He laughed again, a weaker chuckle. He reached out his hand, forming it into a fist. Riley smiled and did the same. When their fists touched, they twisted their wrists, fingers and knuckles still pressed together, and gave each other a thumbs up.

Kendall couldn’t help but joke, "I guess this is the part where we have a dramatic airport goodbye scene.”

“Looks like it,” she replied.

He stepped forward and embraced her in a tight hug. “I'm going to miss you so much, Riles," he murmured.

Riley hesitated for a moment, surprised by his movement, then hugged him back, grabbing fistfuls of the back of his shirt. “I'll miss you too, Kendall,” she replied. Of every nickname she’d ever given him coming off her lips with ease, his actual name only being said in serious moments.

She lifted a warning eyebrow when they stepped back. “I’m not giving you a bloody goodbye kiss,” she replied. Kendall rolled his eyes, both at the irony of wanting to keep it from happening to his baby sister and at the memory of his entailing Riley to help him get to the airport to say goodbye to Jo. This time around, no one was chasing anyone. They were desperately trying to stay where they were. “Because it’s not ‘goodbye’.”

Kendall zoned back in at her statement.

He smiled when she leaned in and stood on her toes, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

“We’ll see you when we get back,” Kendall agreed.

He looked towards the ceiling when their plane departures were called, only seconds before Logan loudly called for the group’s attention to march off in the correct direction of their gate.

A whole world away.

He gestured over his shoulder. “I’ve got to go.”

“So do I.”

They stood there for a moment, reality of their separation hitting them. Their eyes met, a silent understanding of their new experiences waiting for them.

“Don’t be scared,” Riley said suddenly after searching his eyes. “Or, rather, be scared and do it anyway. Don��t let fear hold you back.”

He blinked at her, always stunned at how easily she could read his mind, see things unspoken. (He wondered if she could see everything). "How do you do that?"

She merely smiled.

Kendall took a deep breath through his nose. Continued to look her in the eye, a sudden wave of trepidation hitting him. Not just for the tour, for the unknown of what was to come of the band, but for everything that he suddenly wanted to tell her.

“What are you going to do without me, Hockey-Head?” Riley asked with a shake of her head.

Kendall smiled back. “I don’t know,” he said honestly.

They were called to board once more.

Riley waved and backed away to be with her family. Kendall brought his hands up to his mouth and quickly blew a kiss toward her, the same way he would’ve to Katie. Riley’s face screwed up as she laughed and turned away to join in on the excitement of her and her siblings finally going home.

Kendall turned his back and joined his friends, sister, and mom to head to London.

As they walked toward their respective gates, they carried the weight of their emotions with them, the echoes of their shared laughter and friendship lingering in the air.

There were a lot of things he’d wanted to say to her.

He’d tell her when they saw each other again.

@partiallypearl @ceruleanmusings @mystic-scripture @myloveforhergoeson

[neckdeepinurmum]

the story so far❤️

[tequila-daisies]

Stand Atlantic / 18th September 2024 / Southampton, UK