While the Warped Tour may be dead and gone, embers of the long-running extravaganza summer punk tour still smolder. As nostalgia touring has become the norm in the music industry and things like Emo Nite alternative dance parties have become a cultural plague, the prospect of continuing one's successful pop punk band into middle age has become a more acceptable pursuit. Case in point: the Wet Hot All-American Summer Tour taking over Northern Quest's outdoor stage on Sept. 25.
Sort of a mini-Warped Tour itself, the show features early '00s pop punk standouts the All-American Rejects, New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack, and the Get Up Kids. While most everyone on stage is in their 40s, there's still plenty of youthful exuberance to be found in their music.
To mark the tour's stop in Airway Heights, we decided to rank the 10 best songs from these four genre mainstays. See you in the overly cautious, aged mosh pit.
10"HER WORDS DESTROYED MY PLANET"
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, MY DINOSAUR LIFE
It's never easy dealing with the one that got away. The pain stings even deeper when you try to better yourself to win them back, but they're nowhere to be found. Motion City Soundtrack frontman Justin Pierre gets the emotional bends from the hopefulness self-improvement ("I sold my Xbox to Jimmy down the street / Hell, I even quit smoking weed") crashing against the hopelessness of realizing their ex is probably gone for good ("I sent you a postcard, but the post office sent it back / They said the building's been torn down, I just miss what I thought we both had").
9"LAST NIGHT"
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, EVEN IF IT KILLS ME
Built around a cascading, rapid fingerpicked riff, "Last Night" finds MCS at its most reserved and reflective. Pierre sings about a breakup he can see barreling right at him like a train, trying to soften the inevitable blow that's sure to knock all the wind out of his lungs and leave his heart a broken mess. It artfully dwells in the sadness of the moments without ever leveling blame at her for deciding to leave.
8 "ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE"
NEW FOUND GLORY, CATALYST
This is basically New Found Glory as a metal band. The heaviest of New Found Glory's charting singles features thumping guitar riffs, hardcore breakdowns and thundering fills. Perhaps surprisingly, that pummeling instrumental fits extremely well with singer Jordan Pundik's signature high-pitched nasal vocals. The mix blends together for a delightfully melodic screed about how toxic folks can drag you down like an anchor.
7 "CAPITAL H"
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, I AM THE MOVIE
Back in a pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe world, when superheroes were still a deeply geeky interest, Motion City Soundtrack was unafraid to brandish its nerd card on "Capital H." The starting (and repeating) synth slide that launches the action is more thrilling on its own than many a heavily CGI'd MCU fight scene, and Pierre's underdog with a pop culture-addled persona is on full display as he rapidly delivers lines about coming back swinging with a hero's resolve in the face of unlikely odds ("Singin' songs from the balcony as the city crumbles / under the powers of an evil doctor rocket science monster / with capabilities to destroy the entire universe").
6 "MY APOLOGY"
THE GET UP KIDS, SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT
Quintessential kind-hearted emo, The Get Up Kids frontman Matt Pryor lays out softly vulnerable diaristic feelings about overthinking everything in young adulthood on "My Apology." Getting straight to the point, the opening line stings for anyone who's been at the mentally exhausting point: "You'll be accepting my apology / for taking things too seriously / Sometimes I'm old enough to keep routines / sometimes I'm child enough to scream." But it's the composure to not scream that makes the songs stand out, there's a calm contemplation to Pryor's reflections over low-key instrumentals that keep the words resonating decades later.
5 "WHEN YOU'RE AROUND"
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, COMMIT THIS TO MEMORY
Who knew battling with your alcoholic demons could be so damn catchy? On this deeper-cut MCS gem, the "you" Pierre is singing about is the toxic booze-soaked person he becomes after a few too many drinks. The pop punk spunk of the earworm chorus belies the self-hatred running throughout the track ("But all I could do was close my eyes / and cross my heart and hope to die / 'Cause you don't f—ing listen / when I'm around."). While some folks can only process older pop punk through a nostalgic lens, it's the sort of unvarnished self-reflection found on "When You're Around" that keeps people coming back to Motion City Soundtrack.
4 "MY FRIENDS OVER YOU"
NEW FOUND GLORY, STICKS AND STONES
While the uncouth phrase "bros before hoes" has thankfully faded from our cultural frat boy vernacular over the years, the bonds of friendship do sometimes outweigh the maddening nature of on-again/off-again romantic relationships. New Found Glory's biggest hit tackles the topic with a melodic glee instead of vindictive venom, taking a lot of blame for things not working out before crescendoing to a wonderfully boisterous sing-along chorus.
3 "HOLIDAY"
THE GET UP KIDS, SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT
The Get Up Kids' Something to Write Home About remains an absolute classic second-wave emo album, and the album-opening "Holiday" kicks things off on a perfect note. Accelerating like a sound barrier-breaking rocket, the band's exuberance and emotional frustrations are on full display as Pryor wails out lyrics about a strained relationship that time has dissolved to the point where each party would be "lucky if we're speaking on holidays." It's a pure blast of unstoppable thunderous rhythm and pick-scratching forward momentum.
2 "HIT OR MISS"
NEW FOUND GLORY, NEW FOUND GLORY
Look, young love can be really dumb and messy. And pop punk has long been an ideal vessel for frustrated boys to express this angst. Few songs in that realm nail the target quite like the sublimely simple "Hit or Miss." The main power chord riff is embedded in any pop fan's mind, as Pundik wrestles with the internal conflict of lashing out with petty complaints about an ex-girlfriend, while clearly still harboring feelings and wanting her back. "Hit or Miss" is certainly the former.
1 "THE FUTURE FREAKS ME OUT"
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, I AM THE MOVIE
There are only a handful of songs that I think are legitimately perfect. "The Future Freaks Me Out" is perfect. (Like, if you can't enjoy this song, we cannot be friends.) It's the flawless final form of the Pierre's frenetic OCD, pop culture-drenched, overactive mind lyricism, as he rattles off heartwrenching pleas for his retro-leaning manic pixie dream girl to realize they could end each of their lonely weirdo lots in life by coming together. From the opening guitar-and-vocals-only chorus to the start-and-stop guitar flairs in the pre-chorus, the song is littered with detail and mirth (the heartfelt slowburn bridge ending with Pierre literally stopping and going "Ah, f— it" before launching into another chorus is an all-time meta music moment). It's impossible to fathom not jumping up and down and hollering along with the chorus. We're all on fire, and we're all gonna bust a move. ♦
The All-American Rejects, New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack, The Get Up Kids • Mon, Sept. 25 at 7 pm • $40-$254 • All ages • Northern Quest Resort & Casino • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • northernquest.com
