Review Summary: A new face for the new wave of an old sound.
We've just passed the 20 year anniversary of
Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, and Mark Hoppus has cancer. I have neither the talent nor inclination to sum up how this news feels, the tidal waves of hurt, sympathy and grief it's sent through those unfortunate souls, myself included, who still believe pop-punk can be great in 2021. Suffice it to say it's a strange time; nostalgia for the golden years is tempered with the bitter taste of reality, the knowledge that idols are also human and that feeling you get when life kicks you in the teeth. I didn't even know about
Survivors Guilt: The Mixtape until a few weeks after release, but in that short time it's become my go-to; 20 minutes of pure momentum and infectious energy to wash out the nasty taste of life these days.
Of course, there's another reason to associate KennyHoopla's newest with blink-182: it drums like a goddamn machine and goes by Travis Barker. Hoopla is by far the most interesting of the new crop of musicians falling under Barker's wing in recent years, a chameleonic performer who, alongside acts like Meet Me @ The Altar, is bringing some desperately needed diversity to this historically whitest and most dudebro of genres.
Survivors Guilt: The Mixtape is a flawlessly executed swerve from Hoopla's last EP, indebted more to Bloc Party than blink-182 as it was. Here his versatile voice easily adapts to snotty skate punk on "estella" and "hollywood sucks", turn-of-the-century anthemic pop-punk on "turn back time" and "smoke break", even a dash of Bring Me the Horizon screams, mainly on the
Sempiternal-esque "inside of heaven's mouth, there is a sweet tooth". In true pop-punk fashion, the lyrics are atrocious and any discernible emotion is carefully calculated, but Hoopla and Barker do this dance with enough skill to ensure you don't mind. The singer's phenomenal vocals, and seemingly bottomless well of hooks that will stick in your head for days, sit snugly over the powerhouse drums and polished guitars.
If
Survivors Guilt: The Mixtape at times sounds like it was written by someone reconstructing blink-182's golden period note for note, at least it's given credence by a clear love for the source material and the presence of Barker, unflinchingly talented backbone of that whole era. KennyHoopla is just getting started and already demonstrating an enviable command of multiple styles: a combination of his pop-punk acumen and the indie pop of
how will i rest in peace if i'm buried by a highway? is a promising concept, the potential for him to find his own unique style even moreso. As long as he's this entertaining, though, the genre could do far worse in finding a new face than this beguiling, shape-shifting newcomer.
