Sundressed – The Same Condition

When it comes to pop-punk, there always seems to be a bit of a divide.  On the one hand you have the proprietors of the modern scene – those like State Champs and Seaway.  On the other you have the pillars of the old guard – those like Teenage Bottlerocket and Motion City Soundtrack.  While some generational overlap might exist depending on audience, there’s usually a pretty prominent preferential divide.  A few lone sparks manage to bridge the divide – namely The Wonder Years and The Hotelier – but otherwise it’s a fairly segregated scene.  So it’s always exciting when a new contender comes on by.

For new blood, look no further than Arizona emotive pop-punk act Sundressed.  Having self-released their debut full length a few years back, the band’s wide appeal quickly caught the eye of Take This To Heart Records and led to their first EP, Dig Up A Miracle.  Now, in the same calendar year, the quartet returns with their second EP in under eight months, The Same Condition.  

Central to Sundressed’s easy appeal is the combination of maturity and catchy chorus work.  Calmly dropped opening chords roll slowly across the first moments of “Good As You,” almost like something you’d expect from the post-punk realm.  The tunefully spoken intro sets up a settled, confident scene from which the band edges towards more pop flavoured fun.  Before long, “Beck And Call” breaks out Trevor Hedges’ snarky attitude, punctuated with a stop n’ go tempo in which riffs slowly build into a full blown sing along chorus that should have even your snobby thirty-something cousin tapping his foot.  

But The Same Condition really takes off on a lyrical level during the final half.  “Ordinary Day” invokes the first instance of somewhat self-destructive self-reflection.  With the support of a band worth of backing vocals, the band leads the charge with the proclamation, “so I’ll write the songs you want to hear, the same songs that you’ve heard for years, I’ll stumble through the same old clumsy chords.”  With a heightened sense of sincerity, the band seems to understand their insignificant position in what has become a somewhat marginalized scene over the past decade.  

Yet their message rings with the strength of resistance.  With “Every Part Is Moving,” Sundressed goes on to produce somewhat of a manifesto for a scene that refuses to give in to the sex-appeal and over-produced shortcuts that get artists to the mainstream.  “Inconsistent, out of key, sing all the wrong harmonies, we rely on body parts, to become a work of art,” sings Hedges’ forcefully, taking a stab at bands that mindlessly give in to temptation.  The irony of the lofty, super-catchy chorus isn’t lost on Sundressed as they harness the power of polished pop melody to mirror the effect in good taste.  

Sundressed draws upon a wide range of pop-punk influences, in effect realizing an equally vast potential for appeal.  The hybrid catchy and mature nature of The Same Condition should find an audience with the younger crowd as well as aging pop-punkers looking for something new outside of the typical cookie cutter pop bands masquerading as punk acts.  Sundressed are on the cusp of making their next step even bigger, and as long as they maintain the artistic integrity they sing about so passionately, their reach can only grow.