The Finer Things (album)

The Finer Things is the debut studio album by American pop punk band State Champs.

The Finer Things
Studio album by
State Champs
ReleasedOctober 8, 2013
RecordedApril 9–May 9, 2013
The Panda Studios in Fremont, California
GenrePop punk
Length34:34
LabelPure Noise
ProducerSam Pura, Steve Klein
State Champs chronology
Overslept
(2012)		 The Finer Things
(2013)		 Around the World and Back
(2015)

Background and production

State Champs formed in Albany, New York in 2010.[1] The band consist of Derek Discanio on vocals, Tyler Szalkowski and Tony Diaz on guitar, William Goodermote on bass and Evan Ambrosio on drums.[1] The band released EP 2010 in August,[2] which was quickly followed up with the Apparently, I'm Nothing EP in January 2011.[3] In April 2012, interest in a demo of "Critical" helped the band gain a recording contract, a management company and a booking agency.[4] On April 19, it was announced that the band signed to Pure Noise.[5] In addition, it was mentioned that group would release another EP during summer, with their debut album expected for later in the year.[6] The band subsequently released the Overslept EP in September.[7]

On April 9, 2013, it was announced the band had started recording their debut album with producer Sam Pura and co-producer and former New Found Glory guitarist Steve Klein at The Panda Studios in Fremont, California in May 2013.[8] Exactly a month later, it was announced the band had finished recording.[9] All of the songs that were to feature on their debut album were written in Discanio's bedroom.[4] The album has been described as pop punk.[10][11][12][13][14]

Release

On July 31, 2013, The Finer Things was announced for release, with its track listing and artwork being revealed.[15] On August 20, a music video was released for "Elevated".[16] It was filmed at Warped Tour[17] and directed by Rob Soucy.[18] The band supported Hit the Lights on their tour of Australia in September.[19] In September and October, the group supported Bayside and Motion City Soundtrack on their co-headlining US tour.[20] On September 17, "Nothing's Wrong" was made available for streaming.[21] On September 26, "Easy Enough" was made available for streaming.[22] On September 29, a music video was released for "Hard to Please",[23] after premiering on MTVu.[24] On October 2, The Finer Things was made available for streaming,[25] and was released on October 8 through Pure Noise.[26]

In November, the band supported Chunk! No, Captain Chunk![27] on The Truffle Shuffle Tour in the US.[28] Between February and April 2014, the band supported We Are the In Crowd;[29] the following month, the band supported The Wonder Years on their tour of the UK and Europe.[30] The band then went on the 2014 edition of Warped Tour.[31] In September, the group went on a co-headlining Australian tour with Neck Deep. They were supported by Sidelines.[32] In October, the band released The Acoustic Things EP through Pure Noise.[33] The EP features acoustic versions of several songs from The Finer Things.[34] In October and November, the band co-headlined the Pure Noise Records Tour[35] with Handguns. They were supported by Forever Came Calling, Front Porch Step, Heart To Heart and Brigades.[36] In November, the group supported New Found Glory on their Pop Punk's Not Dead tour in the UK.[37]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic90/100[38]
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk8/10[10]
Alternative Press[11]
Punknews.org[12]
Rock Sound9/10[13]

It charted at number 131 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart[39] and at number 2 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.[40] It has sold 24,000 copies in the United States as of September 2015.[41]

The Finer Things was included on Rock Sound's "50 Best Albums of 2013" list at number 14.[14] Rock Sound also consider it one of the best pop punk albums of the decade.[14] The album was included at number 43 on Rock Sound's "The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time" list.[42]

Track listing
  1. "Elevated" – 3:29
  2. "Deadly Conversation" – 3:08
  3. "Hard to Please" – 3:03
  4. "Prepare to Be Noticed" – 3:07
  5. "Over the Line" – 3:24
  6. "Simple Existence" – 3:45
  7. "Remedy" – 3:24
  8. "Nothing's Wrong" – 3:18
  9. "Mind Bottled" – 2:54
  10. "Critical" – 3:23
  11. "Easy Enough" – 2:59

Chart performance
Chart (2013) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200[43] 132
U.S. Billboard Heatseekers Albums[40] 2

References
Citations
  1. Thomas, Fred. "State Champs | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 29, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  2. "Ep - 2010 - Ep by State Champs". iTunes. Archived from the original on November 29, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  3. Ilvonen, Keagan (January 18, 2011). "Featured Stream: State Champs". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  4. Walker 2015, p. 45
  5. Ilvonen, Keagan (April 19, 2012). "State Champs Sign To Pure Noise Records". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  6. Yancey, Bryne (April 19, 2012). "Pure Noise signs State Champs". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  7. Whitt, Cassie (July 5, 2012). "State Champs to release 'Overslept' 7" on September 11". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  8. DiVincenzo, Alex (April 9, 2013). "State Champs Begin Working on Full-Length Debut with Steve Klein". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  9. Ilvonen, Keagan (May 9, 2013). "State Champs Finish Recording New Album". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  10. Gardner, Ryan. "State Champs - The Finer Things". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  11. Kraus, Brian (October 4, 2013). "State Champs - The Finer Things". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  12. RENALDO69 (October 30, 2013). "State Champs - The Finer Things". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  13. Ritchie, Andy (October 4, 2013). "State Champs - The Finer Things - Reviews". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  14. Patashnik, ed. 2014, p. 21
  15. Kraus, Brian (July 31, 2013). "State Champs (Pure Noise Records) announce debut album, 'The Finer Things'". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  16. Wisniewski, Kira (August 20, 2013). "Videos: State Champs: "Elevated"". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  17. Kraus, Brian (August 20, 2013). "State Champs release video for lead single, "Elevated"". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  18. Pure Noise Records (August 20, 2013). State Champs "Elevated" Official Music Video. YouTube. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  19. Ilvonen, Keagan (June 26, 2013). "Hit The Lights Announce New Australian Tour". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  20. Mendyuk, Bridjet (August 7, 2013). "Bayside, Motion City Soundtrack add more dates to co-headlining tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on September 20, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  21. Kraus, Brian (September 17, 2013). "State Champs (Pure Noise Records) stream new song, "Nothing's Wrong"". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  22. Bird, Michele (September 26, 2013). "State Champs release new song, "Easy Enough"". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  23. Flynn, John (September 29, 2013). "Viedos: State Champs: "Hard to Please"". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  24. Kraus, Brian (September 30, 2013). "State Champs release "Hard To Please" music video". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  25. Rock Sound (October 2, 2013). "Stream State Champs 'The Finer Things' In Full With Rock Sound!". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  26. Bird, Michele. "State Champs stream new album, 'The Finer Things'". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  27. Beringer, Drew (August 27, 2013). "Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! Announce North American Headline Tour". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  28. Paul, Aubin (August 27, 2013). "Tours: Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! / State Champs / Living With Lions / Counterparts". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  29. Wagner, Christian (December 3, 2013). "We Are The In Crowd Announces US And UK Headlining Tours". AbsolutePunk.net. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  30. Nassiff, Thomas (December 10, 2013). "The Wonder Years Announce UK / Europe Tour with State Champs, A Loss for Words". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  31. Rock Sound (January 16, 2014). "Four More Bands Confirmed For Vans Warped Tour US". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  32. Kraus, Brian (May 11, 2014). "Neck Deep and State Champs announce Australian tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  33. Rock Sound (August 7, 2014). "State Champs Announce 'The Acoustic Things'. It's An Acoustic EP. Obviously". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  34. Emily (August 26, 2014). "Exclusive: State Champs Premiere Acoustic Version Of Elevated". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  35. Kraus, Brian (August 4, 2014). "State Champs to co-headline Pure Noise Records fall tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  36. Crane, Matt (October 3, 2014). "State Champs, 'The Acoustic Things' EP premiere". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  37. Kraus, Brian (May 20, 2014). "State Champs added to New Found Glory, the Story So Far, Candy Hearts, Only Rivals UK tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  38. "The Finer Things by The State Champs". Metacritic. Archived from the original on May 20, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  39. Rodriguez, Adrian (March 20, 2014). "Berkeley's Pure Noise Records Celebrates Five Years of Supporting the Pop-Punk Revival". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  40. "Heatseeker Albums : Oct 26, 2013 | Billboard Chart Archive". billboard.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  41. "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on September 17, 2015.
  42. Bird, ed. 2014, p. 69
  43. "State Champs – Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13.
Sources
  • Bird, Ryan, ed. (September 2014). "The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time". Rock Sound. London: Freeway Press Inc. (191). ISSN 1465-0185.
  • Patashnik, Ben, ed. (January 2014). "50 Best Albums of 2013". Rock Sound. London: Freeway Press Inc. (182). ISSN 1465-0185.
  • Walker, Jennyfer J. (October 17, 2015). McMahon, James (ed.). "Passport to Fame". Kerrang!. London: Bauer Media Group (1590). ISSN 0262-6624.
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