{"id":64847,"date":"2018-06-19T16:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T15:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=64847"},"modified":"2018-06-18T23:08:11","modified_gmt":"2018-06-18T22:08:11","slug":"review-state-champs-living-proof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-state-champs-living-proof\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: State Champs &#8211; Living Proof"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-64849 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/State-Champs-Living-Proof.jpg 1378w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Despite being part of one of the most saturated genres in alternative music,\u00a0<strong>State Champs <\/strong>have repeatedly shown themselves to be a cut above the rest<strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0And the Albany quintet\u2019s third LP <em>\u2018Living Proof\u2019\u00a0<\/em>is a just another reminder of their deservedly high status in the scene as, over 13 bouncy tracks, the band demonstrate why they are so god damn good.<\/p>\n<p>Right from opener <em>\u2018Criminal\u2019<\/em>\u00a0the sound is rich and crisp with an electric energy that stays dominant throughout the record.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, anthemic singles <em>\u2018Crystal Ball\u2019<\/em> and <em>\u2018Dead And Gone\u2019<\/em>\u00a0are filled with contagiously catchy choruses that capture the rousing nature of the band&#8217;s pin-point song-writing abilities. In fact, there\u2019s hardly a moment where the quality drops, with <em>\u2018Lightning\u2019, \u2018Frozen\u2019<\/em> and <em>\u2018Safe Haven\u2019<\/em> carrying some of the best sing-along choruses of 2018 thus far. Even the lyricism is both personal and relatable, as frontman Derek DiScanio covers a plethora of topics, from\u00a0relationships to bullying, love and loss, while his vocal performance is as superb as ever.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"State Champs &quot;Living Proof&quot;\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLYQhPJrQIlgMBvld3USaw3eCU-ROE3nIF\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The production standard of <em>\u2018Living Proof\u2019<\/em> was never really in doubt either, with John Feldmann putting his sparkle of bright, crystal clarity on all the tracks, alongside help from the duo of Mike Green and Kyle Black, who also worked on the bands last two records. There&#8217;s even a guest vocal spot from blink-182\u2019s Mark Hoppus on one of the album&#8217;s more soft-tempered tracks,\u00a0<em>\u2018Time Machine\u2019,<\/em>\u00a0which he also co-wrote.<\/p>\n<p>This is surely\u00a0<strong>State Champs\u00a0<\/strong>best release to date. <em>\u2018Living Proof\u2019\u00a0<\/em>takes the best features from the band&#8217;s first two full-lengths\u00a0and moulds them together with an infectious confidence and the professionalism of a band right at the top of their game. In short, get ready to be blasting this record all summer long.<\/p>\n<p>4.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;<\/em><em>Living Proof&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>by <strong>State Champs <\/strong>is out now\u00a0<strong>Pure Noise Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>State Champs <\/strong>links:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/statechampsny\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/State_Champs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/statechampsny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Dylan Tuck (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DylanJTuck\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@DylanJTuck<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;This is surely\u00a0State Champs\u00a0best release to date.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[5879,14780,66,1120],"class_list":["post-64847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-living-proof","tag-pure-noise-records","tag-state-champs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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