One doesn’t need to dig deep into xEasycorex.net to realize that easycore as we know it (or at least would like to know it) is in a sorry state of affairs. Tr00 pop punk and wretched 90s emo worship have largely displaced the fun sounds of New Found Glory and (early) Blink-182 as primary sources of inspiration, and easycore as an art form has suffered for it. While this development in the genre is not good under any circumstances, the sudden transformation from being the best of both worlds between hardcore and pop punk to being a Jawbreaker circle jerk strikes an especially painful chord in me personally…as…I am ashamed to admit…I used to kind of be a 90s emo fanboy back in the mid 2000s : ( So not only has contemporary easycore become less fun for me to listen to (with almost all of the classic easycore bands of yore now in pitched competition with one another to win the gold medal in the Butthurt Olympics), but seeing these new bands jock the old bands that they do reminds me of how much of an annoying, hyper-beta dweeb I used to be in high school/early college. Seemingly every time I hear about a new pop punk band and decide to check them out, I end up being forced to imagine the singer looking at me and saying “Oh, hey, remember THIS, FAGGOT??”, as he then proceeds to hurl a copy of Knapsack’s This Conversation Is Ending Right Now at my head.
But to quote the immortal words of Freddy Madball, EASYCORE! STILL LIVES! Along with awesome bands like C!NCC, City Lights, and Your Weight In Gold, I found that there is still a minority of young touring groups that are keeping it real, and taking a noble stand against the self-perpetuated butthurt that has become the norm in pop punk/easycore. Below are a few of my favorites that I have recently come across. If you think I’m missing out on some sweet new easycore bands, feel free to tell me about them in the comments!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w5GK14mNIw&w=560&h=315]
Times New Roman are a young, up-and-coming easycore band from the rock and roll hotbed of Christianberg, Virginia. One of the sadder moments in the genre came when all keyboards were exiled from easycore (signaling a new, more serious era to come), but Times New Roman thankfully missed that memo. Featuring a chubby lead singer with zany mannerisms and fun, catchy, songs about hanging out with your bros, these kids are clearly picking up the torch dropped (or more accurately, angrily discarded) by Four Year Strong. Also, mirin’ the overall high levels of derp/general awkwardness given out by this band. Hit them up on Facebook and tell them they have the ability!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHD6AX6RuO8&w=560&h=315]
Act As One have been around since 2009ish (or at least that’s when they joined Facebook), and they do a great job of mixing the catchier aspects of tr00 pop punk with sick breakdowns, all the while avoiding the common traps of coming across as whiny or t00fag tryhards. I love this video because it looks like something that would be shot for a high school media studies project, and because you can tell these dudes were clearly having fun fucking around and goofing off when they made it. Highlights include:
+ :39 – The singer eating shit on the opening mosh hop
+ 2:00 – Blink-and-you-miss-it shot of a Slipknot lunchbox (only REAL early 2000s kids rmbr dis!!!)
+ 2:10 – Sophomoric stoner humor = A+++
+ 3:36 – DAT BREAKDOWN.
+ Strong video tags, including “Lindsay Lohan”, “Nikki Manaj”, and “Gucci”.
Show them some love on Facebook here.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZnyOIXr_kA&w=560&h=315]
Speaking of videos that were made for school, Australia’s Arcanine are probably the youngest band featured in this post, and this is a video they really did make for their media class. I don’t think cliffs for this video are necessary, as a lot of the lulziest details are clear and speak for themselves. Obviously, they are still a little on the green side, but frankly I’m just happy to see any young people trying to play this style of easycore these days, and Arcanine are certainly off to a good start. I know this subject has been touched upon before in other posts, but what exactly is it about living in Australia that seems to give people a -30 resistance to butthurt? Does the heat and constant possibility of being killed by one of dozens of terrifying venomous creatures cause people to not think about ghey stuff such as ‘being trapped in the suburbs’ and whatnot? Anyway, until shit goes (awesomely) full retard towards the end of the song, I really enjoy the 90s pop punk vibe of this tune – and look! They even have a picture of everyone in the band with their pants down on their Facebook page! For some reason, this was apparently a very popular type of picture for pop punk bands to take back in the day, and it’s nice to see that it’s still a relevant art form in 2012 amongst Australian high schoolers.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BPRg-xaDHQ&w=560&h=315]
Okay, so technically Cold Forty Three is really more straight-up pop punk than easycore (no breakdowns), but given their flagrant use of autotune and the fact that these dudes are clearly more interested in getting fucked up and smashing bishes than writing coffee table books describing the trials of life on the road, I’m giving them a pass and including them here anyway. This video basically consists of the three Latino bros in the band hitting each other in the balls, excessively drinking, throwing up, and fucking around with blow-up dolls between obligatory shots of the band playing to all of their friends; in other words, sort of the mild pop punk flipside to Xibalba’s “Cold”. As I find the sheer whininess of most current day pop punk much more offensive than the music itself (which usually isn’t actually that bad at all), Cold Forty Three’s snotty, self-absorbed, take on the genre very welcomed, and even makes me a little nostalgic for being a teenage shithead living in Orange County (where being a snotty, self-absorbed suburbanite is virtually a perquisite of being into punk, especially if you are under the age of 30). They are playing Warped Tour this year, so don’t sleep on it if you want to check them out live, and be sure to post one of those internet bro fist memes on their wall here.
To conclude, while easycore may not exactly be in its glory days anymore as it was a few years back, hope is far from lost for the subgenre, and sweet new bands are only as far away as one is willing to dig on the internet to find them. Since a lot of these bands find it important to write about lief, be nice and come out to see them when they go on tour so that they don’t have a reason to write songs about how hard it is on the road later on. We may not have the power to turn back the tsunami of tr00ness and butthurt that has crashed onto easycore and pop punk as of late, but we can stem the tide a bit if we support the few bands out there fighting the good fight, and encourage up-and-coming groups to keep doing what they are doing. And if they change their minds and decide to go tr00 anyway, hey – at least we’ll be able to tease them about when they used to have keyboards and zany antics in their music videos, right?
So, what are your favorite active easycore/pop punk bands? Will the “school video project” subgenre become the dominant trend amongst pop punk music videos in the 2010s? Seriously though, what’s the deal with Australia? Will drinking Australian water make me muscular like most Australian teenagers seem to be? Is there anybody out there who likes Knapsack that doesn’t suffer from profound personality defects?
not sure if theyre really easy core but ive really been digging Kid Liberty
kid liberty have the ability
its just too bad that whoever mixed their album didnt know what they were doing.
TIMES NEW ROMAN = not sherrif best or lulziest easycore name ever
brb making Matura M7 Script Capitols
“without serifs”
Also applicable, ARCANINE, good job picking a complete pussy pokemon
making moshcore band KANGASKHAN
Making ignorant moshcore band MACHAMP
Kangaskhan are all females, thats some pussy shit.
Look out for my band Executor, we’re dropping an EP this fall!
“eggsecutor”, nigga pls
u fell 4 my tarp
Real niggas pick Jigglypuff
Great post. I like that Times New Roman song the best.
As far as other Easycore bands I’ve been listening to, I’ve been bumping that Knockout Kid album ever since Sarge posted about it a few months ago.
that knockout kid album goes hard, wish it had more than 5 songs on it. . . but the times new roman song is rull gewd.
does anyone have the full length 11 track knockout kid album? i bought the 5 track version on itunes, but i cant find the full album anywhere.
Shoot me an email broski.
I think Act As One is on life support since Shawn (lead guitarist) has left the band and music for a while. I’m pretty sure he did 100% of the songwriting so i dont know what their up too right now.
Also my name is in the Act As One Bone To Be Radical EP notes, life status: complete
I’m just gonna say it. I love tr00 pop-punk. I am probably a faggot and will laugh at myself in 5 years. I CANT HELP IT, I JUST CANT STOP LISTENING TO IT. Love me some easycore doe.
It’s okay, I realized that I sort of like Mane Overbroad the other day. I keep singing the chorus of “Dead End Dreams” as “my butt will hurt again it seems”.
This has helped with my fgtty pop-punk needs….when the tank is low & I need some ghey 4 musical equilibrium. & is phree!
http://alternativnews.bandcamp.com/album/a-pop-punk-summer-vol-2
I knew the zany, chubby singer in this easycore band that was around for about six months, who put out an EP of pretty great tunes before trying to do something that would actually acquire them females. Here’s their low-rent Youtube video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYPvjiwes6g
Pokemon band name = backed
The Vegas Wake Up are tight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRv0g5AOf6Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsGGnMdOQB4
BACKTARD. Thank you! Finding out about bands like this is exactly why I did this post.
Open guitar octaves and band shouting remind me a lot of this Wonder Years song – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LuBLpnp7Ck Great band though, grabbed the rest of their songs of their Facebook page.
wood so act whitewashed/pocho so i can hook up wif dem hot canadien babes/10!!!
Wow. Really dug this tune.
When that pool shot hit I just KNEW there would be many a zany pool party antic. This clip did not disappoint.
Can’t believe Act as One got mentioned. So awesome.
That Times New Roman track nails the Rise of Die Trying era Four Year Strong sound perfectly, which is good because more bands need to sound just like that.
I like how the lead guitar is just slightly off time and a little frakky, like he’s playing something just barely within his ability threshold and he’s concentrating really hard to not screw it up. Give em two years and they’ll all shred hard as balls and their playing abilities will catch up to their songwriting skills.
*the lead guitar in the Arcanine song…..
I am the guitarist you speak of. This song was written ages ago and so was the recording. We’ve gotten a lot better since 2010. Our new stuff is a lot better with the help of new members and such.
Was scrolling down looking for JohnnyFilth’s reply regarding Australia. Was disappointed
Knapsack is really big with the kids around my area that are just now finding out about the 90s emo scene. The town I live in is a little slow to pick up on music trends so the tr00 pop punk thing is just starting to take off. My nephew asked me if I had heard of Sunny Day Real Estate the other day. It made me sad to admit to listening to them back in the day.
Dark days (or should I say DORK days ahahahaha) lie ahead, my friend :( II know all too well that 90s emo is the soundtrack to not having self esteem. In b4 they start jocking Grade really, really hard.
holy fuck i live in christiansburg. mind blown.
Sweet post, glad to have some new easycore in digestable chunks. I have the Act As One album but haven’t gotten into it yet. Times New Roman seem sweet though, love the awkwardness of the singer when he’s waiting for the guitarist to finish his backing vox.
Also, Seaway are from Canada, yay! Way over the other side of the country, boooo.
me vs hero are writing a new album so easycore ain’t dead yet. tbh i like some tr00 pop-punk bands and i also love a lot of easycore bands.
as much as i love Me Vs Hero i seriously doubt they can out-do their last album :c
can everyone on sywh stop sweating Your Weight In Gold, they re awful, check out I Am Villain instead. Still Australian & fun, but do not make you cringe from embarrassment.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmU17B6qe6c&w=560&h=315
An important post. Greatly appreciated.
<3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO9lY6GRJcc
Naked dudes and easycore go great with each other
Holy shit Arcanine has Bieber as teh clean vox
(also, Pokemon name lols)
hahahahahahaha yes!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wSNQMjPBtM&w=560&h=315
Six Stories Unknown (sweden, 2012)
best (not mentioned on sywh) songs from 2011 :
(stoped researching a bit this year)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi_kDOt3Lcw&w=560&h=315
a step ahead – in it yo win it
video is meh, song is catchy and well produced
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msYRActq-fA&w=420&h=315
sell your sky – 1UP (uk)
dat brittish singing
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3o6a6b1guo&w=560&h=315
Chase This City – The Kids That Never Gave Up
catshy as fuck
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ8ywzPxWg4&w=560&h=315
Hometeam “Too Legitimate to Quitimate”
fys rise or die trying era… (works for me)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMW1UROJdQs&w=560&h=315
Dacade – the doctor called
my fav !
also cant bear this party have some new songs up for free on their facebook and they’re great, better that the ones from from the album imo.
http://coolmug.tumblr.com/post/27996757630
how do you embed ? (srs)
also how could i forget these guys from my own country (france)
http://youtu.be/uSQuHFLZZAQ
oh and till we drop from hungary have a new video out :
http://youtu.be/ZSvjoiyT6CQ
xoxo
This music sucks.
Thanks random guy who shows up just to say something negative, your opinion has been noted.
So sorry it’s not up to your liking, bro. Please tell us what changes the site needs to make so this never happens again since it’s apparently here to cater to your specific tastes.
These dudes are epic…digging their vibe – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nIombl4Dbs – Nothing To Prove – You’re My Boy Blue
F.T.W (FOR THE WIN) – BREAK THE ICE – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV6pi4rAKFg
WE SET SIGNALS – BREAK THESE WALLS
Dude!! You totally missed the best easycore band this year!!!
Abandoned by bears from sweden (yeah, i ALSO thought that sweden only had blackmetal bands etc…)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR7wXZ2gXQ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYRY9E5YX2I
Dude!! You totally missed the best easycore band this year!!!
Abandoned by bears from sweden (yeah, i ALSO thought that sweden only had blackmetal bands etc…)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR7wXZ2gXQ4