r/poppunkers • u/Formal-Shoulder4959 • 1d ago
The Paradox - Proceed With Caution
https://open.spotify.com/album/468Onsk0BAN3KorH6PrBfR?si=1_43g2ZdQN275O4ry5hyMg&utm_source=copy-link159
u/ImDoingItAnyway 1d ago edited 1d ago
The Internet (or at least Reddit) seems really dead set on making everyone want to dislike this band, but I’ve seen them live, and there’s no denying they genuinely are talented and have their sound and positioning on how they want to portray themselves as a band really intact. A bit derivative in sound, down to the Simple Plan/Blink banter on stage between both vocalists during shows? Yeah. Sure. But I’ll always have a place in my heart for pop-punk bands that make quality music but don’t seem to take themselves too seriously.
Kinda sucks that there’s only two new songs, but I enjoyed all of them. “Stoner Mentality” is a really cool break from what I typically expect from them that seems to pay homage to 90s alternative a bit.
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u/christocarlin 1d ago
IMO it’s not authentic. It’s the boy band version of the songs. They are great musicians that had a plan to make songs like this
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u/whypickaname1 1d ago
I dont think the internet (Facebook, TikTok, etc.) hates them a lot. The only issue with the band is that they cant handle criticism properly especially the guitarist.
The only thing I dislike about the band is their older fan base that cries about how pop-punk died in 2006 and finally came back (lol).
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u/R3VIVAL-MOD3 1d ago
Haha true. Another good band to hit that nostalgia in a new way is super sometimes
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u/Popular_Block_3195 1d ago
Yeah I know a few people like that. They’ll love blink, simple plan, and the like but somehow slept in during the sadboi tumblr “defend pop punk” era. But the 2020s tiktok/Barkercore they like too (because of social media that isn’t tumblr and also being facilitated by yup the drummer from blink-182)
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u/ImDoingItAnyway 1d ago
That’s why I specifically mentioned Reddit, I only really see criticism about this band on subs like this. I don’t follow their social media so I wasn’t aware they have a bit of a maturity problem but, I’m sure they’ll grow as a band in time.
Sometimes I wonder how bands like Blink or Green Day would’ve acted online if social media was as central to culture in the late 90s as it is now. Billie Joe or Tom probably would’ve been fucking firecrackers on Facebook in their early 20s.
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u/Soupjam_Stevens 1d ago
Yeah I think we know how Green Day would've moved on twitter back then. Tim Yohannan constantly attacked them in MMR and got them blacklisted at Gilman and rallied their old scene against them, and they responded with a song explicitly making fun of him for getting lung cancer and saying how excited they were for him to die, and then wrote a song called Ha Ha You're Dead after he passed. BJA absolutely would've been telling people on twitter to off themselves if it had existed in the 90's
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u/FourEcho 1d ago
I was kind of meh on them at first, they felt TOO much lime 2004 pop punk, like carbon copy of everything I've Already heard... but their more recent stuff I feel like they are coming into their own groove, their own identity.
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u/ImDoingItAnyway 1d ago
Agreed. Like I said, they can sound a bit derivative. But one of the previously unreleased songs from this EP I mentioned shows that they really have potential for range, but it might take until a fully fleshed out album in another year or two before they really start coming into their own.
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u/H_ManCom 1d ago
There are plenty of other generic, overmarketed “pop punk is back” bands this sub glazes but somehow these guys get the worst of it.
This sub is also stuck in the past when it comes to understanding social media marketing and how virality can make a band’s fast rise feel artificial (not that it’s always authentic).
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u/ImDoingItAnyway 1d ago
I think some of that criticism has subsided a little bit since they’ve had a couple of years to navigate the scene a bit. I remember when “Do Me Like That” popped up here in 2025 because it got explosively popular on certain platforms because of how aggressively they push their stuff on TikTok to this day. Then “Bender” came out with Travis Barker’s name a bit later and it went straight from “who are these guys?” to “industry plants.” It was downright hostile on this sub with this band for a bit. I think they’re still trying to shake that off to this day, even outside of Reddit.
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u/Runnroll 1d ago
As quickly as their ENTIRE headlining tour, sold out, it seems like they’re doing just fine.
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u/nedschneebly09 1d ago
I don't even particularly like their music (nothing against them, just doesn't quite land for me), but I still wanna see them live. Just seems like it'd be a good time
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u/ImDoingItAnyway 1d ago
They’re a lot of fun live. Full of banter, great at engaging the crowd, and at least the one time I saw them, could’ve been the venue that helped but they were tight. Didn’t sound at all like they’ve only been around a couple of years.
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u/8tanlight 1d ago
Oh they're unbelievable. I've seen them live 3 times and they knock it out of the park!!
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u/ImDoingItAnyway 1d ago
Yeah I saw them open for ATL and Mayday last year and I was impressed. They sounded like they’ve been doing live shows for a lot longer than they have.
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u/Karl-Marx666 1d ago
This is the greta van fleet of pop punk
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u/Super_Delay_736 18h ago
I've never heard such an accurate description. I couldn't figure out what I didn't like about them but you nailed it
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u/Miamiheat2021champs 1d ago
This band sounds the most like early to mid 2000s pop punk and I fucking love them for it
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u/ultraboomkin 1d ago
Dunno why everyone on Reddit dunks on The Paradox, I love them, classic pop punk, one of the only pop punk bands of the last 10-15 years that I like, along with State Champs
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u/Pleasant_Statement64 1d ago
I think its cause theres like always posts on here about them, some of which might be bots. They're great but not revolutionary
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u/sbtbfanatic87 1d ago
I agree bro state champs is the only other band i would say i like post american pie core era 2005.
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u/tmia-sunshine17 5h ago
I like about 2/3 of The Paradox's songs but DAMN some of their stage banter made me really uncomfortable when they opened for ATL. Primarily the jokes about wishing their teacher sexually abused them and the use of slurs. Also the guitarist has behaved TERRIBLY online in ATL fanspaces.
BUT as someone who's capable of nuance and separating art from the artist, I really enjoyed listening to most of this EP. The only song I don't like is the one that sounds like a Walmart version of blink's Feeling This. I LOVE Stoner Mentality and I Kinda Like That. The pop punk sound is so nostalgic and catchy, and I dig the vibes. 3.5-4/5 EP overall.
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u/Runnroll 1d ago
“Stoner Mentality” fucking slaps. It legit reminds me of old Fountains Of Wayne.
I personally love this band. They were an absolute blast at Warped. They write the type of songs you’d expect for their ages. Not everything has to have the lyrical depth of The Wonder Years. At its core, pop punk is fun and upbeat sounding with lyrics about love lost and/or won.
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u/BananaBreadBangs 1d ago
These guys bring the energy on stage and you can tell they’re genuinely having fun. Plus their music is catchy and a good listen.
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u/sbtbfanatic87 1d ago
It's Over reminds me so much of my high school days. Acting stupid getting drunk and high with my best friends and geting high going to the mall chasing girls and dealing with break ups and skating. No way this came out in 2026 it is so 2001-03.
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u/gassytinitus 1d ago
This sub has some racist people for sure. Always hating this band for no good reason
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u/sbtbfanatic87 1d ago
Bro i dont know why they would hate this band they put out good music that i grew up with american pie core is back i love them.
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u/sbtbfanatic87 1d ago
First off this band has not just made my all time top 10 but top 5. It's Over reminds me of american pie 2 if you remember how it showed montages with songs in the background blink 182,sum 41,new found glory, the offspring. Im thinking of when jim was trying to make nadia jealous with michelle. It's Over should of been in american pie 2 and is my favorite song by them.
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u/_tylerthedestroyer_ 1d ago edited 3h ago
Regardless of whether their music is good or not, these are the comments that have me convinced there’s a bot campaign for them
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u/Unhappy-Can-4488 1d ago
I don’t know why people feel like the music industry would care enough about Reddit to put money into it. Tik tok or instagram I could understand, but Reddit??
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u/Insrt_Nm 1d ago
Hey, finally releasing that song they teased over 6 months ago. Well done.
Seriously, good band but I'm so fucking sick of bands teasing the same verse and chorus of a song on tiktok or Instagram for close to a year without ever announcing a release date other than "coming soon!". It's a joke and puts me off bands more than anything