Written by Hannah Clough
Picture this: the year is 2013, October has just begun so everyone’s in a rather
spooky mood, and while on your bus ride to school, you see one of your current
favorite bands, State Champs, has dropped a new record called “The Finer Things”. The opening riff of “Elevated” starts and you try to mentally prepare yourself for
what’s about to happen, but the thoughts are interrupted by Derek DiScanio’s raspy vocals
screaming “pulled aside as if I was the wrong one”, and it immediately captivates
you.
Brings back memories, right? Well, believe it or not, “The Finer Things” is turning seven years old this year (feel old yet?), and while some of us may have been older, some younger, some not even into State Champs yet, I was in seventh grade when this album blessed us with its presence.
This has been my "comfort album" for a minute now, and while no one knew what to expect from them on their first Pure Noise release, State Champs ended up selling 3,100 copies in the first week and reaching #2 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. If there's one thing that's true about “The Finer Things”, it's that it has any message you could need to hear at the moment.
Feeling defeated? Listen to “Easy Enough.” Feeling alone? Listen to “Elevated.” Someone
has you fired up? Blast “Simple Existence” as loud as you can!
My teenage and young adult years have been heavily influenced by this album, and I definitely wouldn’t be as motivated to get out of my hometown and fight for what I want to do with my life if State Champs never helped me see that I could. This is just turning into one big pile of sap and I’m sorry, but it’s about to get sappier.
When this album dropped seven years ago, I was just a kid not knowing what to do with my life, kind of just going through the motions. I found who I am track-by-track; it was this record that brought me to the moment I knew I wanted to go into the music industry, and I haven’t looked back since.
"The Finer Things" is a defining album for the pop-punk scene, largely due to the fact that it has had an impact on too many people to count. Have you ever met someone in the pop-punk scene who hasn’t listened to even one song off this record? I sure haven’t, even if it’s “Remedy” which is probably the most popular track.
Fast forward a few years to 2018, and State Champs announced shows in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and Albany, New York where they would be playing this glorious album in its entirety to celebrate the fifth anniversary of it. If you were fortunate enough to attend one of these shows, you surely remember the chaos that erupted.
Thankfully, I got to attend the Asbury date with some of my best friends and it is still to this day my favorite show I’ve ever been to. The feeling of that night was indescribable, especially getting to hear some of the older tracks that haven’t been played since 2014-2015 like “Nothing's Wrong” and "Over The Line."
All in all, this album is and will continue to be my favorite piece of work State Champs has ever produced. Feel free to tweet us @lgndsoftmrw and let us know what your favorite "Finer Things Memory" is!
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