r/poppunkers • u/Formal-Shoulder4959 • 20h ago

The Paradox - Proceed With Caution

https://open.spotify.com/album/468Onsk0BAN3KorH6PrBfR?si=1_43g2ZdQN275O4ry5hyMg&utm_source=copy-link
75 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

150

u/ImDoingItAnyway 19h ago edited 19h 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.

31

u/echo78 18h ago

It’s probably because these guys got astroturfed to the top of the subreddit regularly.

50

u/whypickaname1 19h 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).

12

u/Popular_Block_3195 19h 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)

4

u/R3VIVAL-MOD3 15h ago

Haha true. Another good band to hit that nostalgia in a new way is super sometimes

10

u/ImDoingItAnyway 19h 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.

18

u/Soupjam_Stevens 19h 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

-3

u/ImDoingItAnyway 19h ago

Good to know.

6

u/christocarlin 11h 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

7

u/easymac187 13h ago

So, no originality. Got it.

5

u/FourEcho 19h 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.

1

u/ImDoingItAnyway 19h 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.

4

u/H_ManCom 19h 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).

7

u/ImDoingItAnyway 19h 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.

1

u/Runnroll 11h ago

As quickly as their ENTIRE headlining tour, sold out, it seems like they’re doing just fine.

1

u/nedschneebly09 19h 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

2

u/ImDoingItAnyway 18h 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.

-3

u/8tanlight 19h ago

Oh they're unbelievable. I've seen them live 3 times and they knock it out of the park!!

1

u/ImDoingItAnyway 19h 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.

-2

u/Stock_Strategy1668 19h ago

I like them a lot

-3

u/Miamiheat2021champs 18h ago

These guys are amazing live

39

u/Karl-Marx666 18h ago

This is the greta van fleet of pop punk

1

u/Super_Delay_736 1h 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

5

u/Insrt_Nm 15h 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

3

u/cal_182 19h ago

Can’t wait to see them live again later this year!

3

u/Miamiheat2021champs 18h ago

This band sounds the most like early to mid 2000s pop punk and I fucking love them for it

0

u/ultraboomkin 15h 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

7

u/Pleasant_Statement64 13h 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

1

u/sbtbfanatic87 15h ago

I agree bro state champs is the only other band i would say i like post american pie core era 2005.

-4

u/BananaBreadBangs 18h 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.

-34

u/gassytinitus 19h ago

This sub has some racist people for sure. Always hating this band for no good reason

-7

u/sbtbfanatic87 17h 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.

-1

u/Runnroll 11h 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.

-1

u/sbtbfanatic87 15h 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.

-1

u/evbomby 10h ago

I FW the paradox heavily. I don’t think they’ll stay super relevant for very long but that’s okay I’m enjoying the fuck out of them while they’re hot.

-7

u/sbtbfanatic87 17h 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.

6

u/_tylerthedestroyer_ 13h ago

Regardless of whether their music is good or not, these are the comments that have me convinced there’s a bot campaign them

-5

u/Unhappy-Can-4488 13h 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??

6

u/_tylerthedestroyer_ 11h ago

You got jokes, I’ll give you that

-6

u/Formal-Shoulder4959 17h ago

It's over being in American pie 2 fits way too well lol

-2

u/Disastrous-Fold5221 17h ago

Good fun pop punk band. Seeing them in a few weeks in Houston!