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Wicked Bears

Underwater

Written by: PP on 03/04/2023 22:09:14

Wicked Bears is a tongue-in-cheek pop punk band from Salt Lake City, Utah. Their sophomore album "Underwater" is one of the most refreshing entrants to the pop punk scene in quite some time. It combines hilarious lyrics that don't take themselves too seriously with clever stories and mega catchy up-then-down melodic riffs and enough hooks to reel in most fish in your local lake in one go.

They have a hypothetical love song that isn't a love song ("Hypothetically"). There's a Bouncing Souls style melodic punk banger in "Lies" that's constantly revolving around whether or not the vocalist is lying because he never lies but is he lying now? "The Darkness" literally has a chorus where the vocalist goes "I present to you / the cool part of this song / where we insert some catchy phrase / to dispel the darkness, yeah". Drenched in self-irony, alright.

It's as lighthearted as Masked Intruder but way funnier, and with far better songs. It works because the lyrics are lighthearted, but with plenty of depth and smart observations wrapped around infectiously catchy choruses and great riffs. "Put Me Down", for instance, is a fast-paced banger about cold winters, but brings about a party atmosphere through its catchy woo-ooh-ooh, put me down" chorus. "Lucky" sounds like something The Dopamines could have written, here showcasing a more classic no-frills punk rock approach rather than the melodic pop punk that most of the record is all about.

"Underwater" is upbeat and light, but not overtly summery. Many pop punk bands make the mistake of being all about bouncy rhythms or sugarcoated choruses. Wicked Bears have neither - at least not as the primary drivers of their expression. Instead, they rely on humour and a lovable, spirited energy that glues itself into your memory on the first listen. They're simply having so much fun throughout "Underwater" that their soundscape becomes irresistible. This is what pop punk is all about, folks. One hundred percent bangers with no skippable tracks or filler here.

Download: Put Me Down, Lucky, The Darkness, Hypothetically
For the fans of: The Dopamines, The Bouncing Souls, Junior Battles, Masked Intruder, Pkew Pkew Pkew, The Copyrights, Trashed Ambulance
Listen: Facebook

Release date 03.03.2023
Wiretap Records