Pop Punk 101 - We The Kings

There’s sort of this tug and pull argument in music discourse that punk and pop punk should not assimilated into the same juncture. Some purists believe that the original ethos of punk should remain the way it has always been, and be a sort of anti-establishment movement which says **** off to the industry basically. Blame Green Day for winning that damn Grammy because problem is, now, punk is such a profitable commodity that majors are cashing in left, right and centre. Other more post-modern critics might argue that punk is moving forward and we should damn well embrace its acceptance into the mainstream, especially since bands that deserved of the benefits associated with mainstream success, are now getting paid for their efforts.

Let’s skip to 2008, where Gigwise is sat in the ‘Green Room’ of Manchester’s Academy with Travis Clark of the band We the Kings; a pop punk band really just on the tipping point of their career. The band have recently released their debut album on the independent label S Curve. They have also just done the full leg of the Warped Tour (none of this two week bullshit) and have been on tour with every pop punk music mag’s wet dream. So there’s your context, but what has exactly happened to punk these days?

Back in the 70s it’s probably fair to say that punk was punk and it was ****ing pissed off. My God, it would probably have shit all over you given half the chance and/or smashed a table against your skull and cracked it down the middle. People were shit poor, free love was shown up to be a God damn farce, and some ‘punks’ found a voice in a movement, where pretty much anything went – and, the more obnoxious it was, all the ****ing better! Let’s get some column inches in those scuzzy little fanzines people! Punk kind of chilled a bit during the eighties and nineties; hair metal took over followed by the cult of Cobain showing people the love, by getting stoned of your tits. But that’s neither here nor there.

Something happened in the late 90s; let’s, for arguments sake, call it Blink 182. Even before Green Day won that God damn Grammy, these little pop punkers were selling more records than Zavvi (far more records than Zavvi in fact). AND golly gosh, these ‘punks’, that were ripping off the original punk rifts and injecting some much missed fun back into the genre, were, ****, on a major label (well with Emema they were at least)! But back to We the Kings, because for all intents and purposes, this article is actually about them. “We grew up really inspired by Blink 182.” Travis confides. “We’d go to shows and they’d look like they were having so much fun on stage, in comparison to some other bands who just looked like they were going through the motions.” It’s not unfair to suggest that a lot of these new punk (let’s for argument’s sake, call them ‘pop punk’) bands were inspired by a movement that showed just how much fun you could have not really giving a shit, and doing what you want with your life.

You can be in a band and you can have all gone to school together and that (as is the case with We the Kings, of course) but most people who start bands, admit that they’re not doing it for particularly punk reasons. It’s not to fill a void in the industry, nor to make a political statement. Oh no, if bands are really honest, the reason why they start bands is to get girls! “We started the band to get girls but that didn’t go so well.” Travis confides, “We were the dorky kids in school but people knew us because we were loud and obnoxious. Then the band started doing well and the girls had a change of heart. We may have started the band to get girls but we really loved music. I think a lot of music feels really forced. I would say to people starting up bands to just play and write music you love because you love it, and not for any other reason.”

It’s not exactly a punk premise, but these days honesty is probably one of the most punk attributes you can profess. “Yes, I’m in a band and I can have my cake and eat it and if you don’t like it, you can suck on my balls!” Travis didn’t say that, but you get our point! The original punk ethos was just that: “**** you and your mainstream counterculture; we’re having a ****ing great time”! Again, pretty punk if you look at it this way…

But you can shun the majors if you want to. There’s no reason why you should have to be told by your mainstream bum raping manager that you’ve got a bit fat and the fourteen year olds that follow you around ‘on heat’ won’t like you anymore. That is so un-punk. Last year, We The Kings signed to S Curve Records, which is owned by Steve Greenberg (ex Mercury Records). It has a licensing and distribution agreement with EMI but is an independent label with a very sparse number of bands on its roster, We the Kings and Tom Jones being two of them. “Some of the labels that hit us up seemed very enticing,” Travis says, “But they had a lot of other bands that were maybe a similar style or had recordings coming out so we didn’t want to get pushed into the background with all these other records. And then it gets confusing as there’s competition with your own label mates.”

If you really want to be punk though, then stirring up shit on tour is definitely the way forward. “We bashed out the window to Mayday Parade’s van,” says Trav. “It was really cold and we thought it would be really funny if they had to drive back from the last day of warped tour without a window. Alex from All Time Low left something in our tour bus with Ketchup on it. We’re really ignorant so we thought it was a tampon. I went through my phone book and got Alex’s phone number and posted it on Myspace. He had to change his number.” However, it’s not been unknown for other bands to get their own back. “Boys like Girls traded our water bottles and put straight gin in them,” Trav laughs. “After the second song we were really thirsty and it was the last day of tour so we were chugging it down. I spit it out as I didn’t know what it was. And I gave it out. Afterwards, I just realised I’d given a whole bottle of gin to someone who was probably under age.”

We’re not suggesting for a silly second, that We The Kings are the face of neo punk; God no. What we’re saying here is that we should open the genre up to slightly more investigation and not just write something off because it seems situated in a more popular place. Come on, the economy is having a meltdown right now, bands have been getting dropped from labels for a while, people have to earn their keep to maintain their life on the road and /or to keep their music turning over nicely. Open your eyes, this is punk! And plus, We The Kings have the most emo lyrics known to mankind. Trust us, you’ll love ‘em. Their self titled debut is out now.