As one of the marquee and definitive sounds of a generation, Pop-punk, itself a subsidiary and fusion of the larger Pop and Punk-rock genres, is both nostalgic and immediate all at the same time.
While its sound is very much rooted in a granular aesthetic built upon the instrumentation of rock– with its soaring guitar riffs, cascading drums, and unique voices often screaming, crooning, or otherwise loudly singing anthemic choruses– it’s also infused with underlying themes, punk as they were, driven by the timeless and existential sentiment of figuring out just who we are, which also fits nicely into the schematics of modern pop music. There’s also a pervading social, cultural, and political subtext about youth growing up in and in revolt to a shitty and divisive world forged and thrust upon them by preceding generations. Because of this, its impact and influence on the pantheon of modern pop, rock, and hip-hop are notable.
However, in a modern context and in the streaming age, it’s simply not a pillar genre anymore so much as it is a stylistic approach or aesthetic to imbue and interpolate with other sounds and genres which also fit the bill particularly of youth in tension with themselves and the world around them.
Pop-punk revitalism, then, is an attempt to reclaim Pop-punk as a formative genre in-and- of-itself, to return to the tenants that set it apart as a genre rather than as just a soundscape. Modern proponents of this movement include Machine Gun Kelly, Willow, and Avril LaVigne (who operated at an important crossroads for the genre and its adoption into modern pop aesthetics), but a number of lesser-known artists have also consistently approached the genre with an authenticity that is often overlooked in favor of the and name recognition/popularity of the above artists.
One such artist, Sueco (formally Sueco the Child), is perhaps one of the most unique in that he has perfected the balance of the sound with other genres, creating a debut album, “It Was Fun While It Lasted,” that, while not fully Pop-punk, engages with the bombasity of the genre with a fantastic slate of instrumentals, ridiculous and catchy choruses, soaring vocals, and a rambunctious spirit that touches on everything from suicidal tendencies and toxic relationsips to drunk dialing exes and living it up.
While the intricacies and heavy rock elements of Pop-punk may be lost in translation, Sueco still approaches and blends the genre with an admirable degree of genuinity and conviction. This is by every metric a hybrid album, borrowing elements from Pop-punk, pop, rock and hip-hop, but the tracklist is chalk full of engaging and diverse instrumentation that successfully uses pillars from each genre to bring out the best in each other, and Sueco’s vocal chops are impressive and have a lot of flexibility in delivery.
The opener, “Today,” begins the album on a somber note, following the emotional response Sueco has had to his mother passing from cancer when he was 15. Per Sueco, the track came to be the night before he decided to become sober. The simple acoustic and piano backed instrumental (which expands into driving guitar riffs) sounds great and gives a lot of weight to the cracks and wails in his delivery, which help to sell the emotion and bitterness of the track, especially in lines like, “If I don’t hit you back by tomorrow/ I’ll have made my great escape (yeah)/ This pill is so hard to swallow/ But it makes me feel great/ So mama, don’t you worry/ I’ll see you again someday/ And maybe that day is today.”
From here, the album slams on the gas with one of its best songs, the high energy “Paralyzed,” which is a great rock cut that lays the guitars and drums on heavy and sets the pace and structure for much of the rest of the album. The drama is amped up to 100 with a quiet, piano backed beginning verse that proceeds to explode into a screamed chorus and verses, and then back down before exploding again.
Much of the tracks on the album follow this structure of piano based or otherwise slower introductions with a tame delivery evolving into gargantuan rock and hip hop instrumentals and larger than life choruses, and it helps to encapsulate the pent-up, raw emotional energy that fuels the Pop-punk genre.
“Loser” and “Drunk Dial” are self-depreciative, bombastic anthems fueled by angry guitars and shouted choruses that are easily the most ear-wormy and singable in the entire tracklist, and they seem ripped straight out of a 90s teen movie. “Loser” is the better of the two, with a sharper chorus and verses and a harder hitting instrumental and build-up structure, but “Drunk Dial” is an endearing, boom-clap type anthem that I’ve found myself most often randomly shouting when walking around my house.
“Toxic Therapy” and “Motel 666” are experimental cuts with hyperactive, blended instrumentals and exaggerated vocal performances that showcase a lot of versatility in Sueco’s adoption of Pop-punk aesthetics. He flirts with screamo and dramatic flare in “Toxic Therapy,” and the keys-backed instrumental giving way to heavily distorted guitars and thundering 808s in the place of drums is thrilling. The way he flips from soaring and shouted vocals to gnarly wails takes the track over-the-top, especially with the build up of the chorus and the chorus itself. My only criticism is that the guitars, despite having a unique distortion, sound a little tinny.
“It Was Fun While It Lasted” is a fun, rowdy farewell with a simple rock instrumental that, like all of the tracks, has an incredible build-up to the larger-than-life chorus. The verses are a little cheesy but are in good fun; it feels very much like a youthful, screw-it I’m going to do what I want type of track. The guitar riffs, though nothing special, sound great and the chorus and hook– “Every night getting blasted, waking up in my casket/ And now that we’re past it, it was fun while it lasted/ How it ended was tragic, I was overdramatic/ And now that we’re past it, it was fun while it lasted”– have me shouting and headbanging every time I play the song. Beware, the introduction to the song is overtly explicit.
Overall, “It Was Fun While It Lasted,” is a versatile, surprising, and FUN debut album that primes Sueco for a prominent spot in new age Pop-punk. Though it doesn’t avoid the trappings of Pop-punk’s fusion into wider pop and hip-hop aesthetics, Sueco pulls it off with a genuine authenticity and care for what these genres represent. His voice rivals that of any classic Pop-punk outfits and I think far exceeds any of the current Pop-punk mainstays like Machine Gun Kelly or Willow.
His adoption of the genre seems to be a natural fit, not some vapid experiment, which is what keeps his sound from sounding like a simple aesthetic or gimmick. When he infuses and blends various soundscapes, he does it in a way that is either creative or complementary, adding sonic weight rather than cheap filler sound to fit into more than one genre playlists on Spotify.
Finally, Sueco’s ability to craft insanely catchy hooks is very evident and reminds me a lot of Post Malone, and I love the way he shifts his vocal performance on the hooks, often with the initial hook being sung and the next being shouted. Every song is at the very least fun and has an engaging build-up/release structure, and frequently will make you wish the volume dial didn’t have a limit. The 12-song tracklist is well-paced and diverse, and the album as a whole is a lean and mean 28 minute listen that you’ll likely immediately put on repeat. I dare you to make it through the entire experience without finding yourself singing, head-banging, or otherwise jamming along.
Listener discretion is advised– lots of angst, mature thematic content, explicit or distressing lyrics, and big, scary f-words.