So here I am, sifting through the Terminus email at 4:30 in the morning to find an email letting us know this band Runaway Kids just released a song called “Take It All.” Here’s the thing; we don’t expect much when it comes to promotional material we receive. A lot of it seems to be run-of-the-mill All Time Low/A Day To Remember soundalikes or weird pop musicians we can’t really find a purpose for (I’m a 32 year old man who listens to a lot of Crass. I am not your target audience. Please send me good music. We’re drowning in cliche over here.) All things considered, I wasn’t expecting much.
“I need a face/One that can match your name/An empty space/Is what you left to me” began screaming at me the moment I pressed play. “Okay,” I said to myself, “here’s another breakup song. This is about what I expected.” Thankfully, I allowed the song to continue on.
What began as a song about a failing relationship, to my ears, evolved in to something deeper. The relationship in question is one pertaining to the big guy upstairs. This is important to me for multiple reasons:
1.) If you’ve listened to any number of episodes of our podcast, you know of my deepest disdain for all things religious and its influence on society.
2.) Modern “punk” is oversaturated in saccharine-sweet break up songs and pointless bullshit irrelevant to anyone not spending their weekly allowance at their local Hot Topic.
3.) It’s easier to sell records, merch, and tickets when the topics addressed in the music are easier to swallow. If you’re not NOFX, Anti-Flag, or any other band who’s long established their careers in politics, good luck getting your foot out of your mom’s garage.
For me, reason three is extremely important. The community has shied away from topics that make society overly uncomfortable. The crimson skull and Black Flag bars have become as much clothing brands as any of the “edgier” Affliction lines of clothing. We traded truth and passion for convenience and crying. We traded anger, paranoia, and frustration for sexual frustration and rosy-colored angst you can also sell your “cool” mom on so she can escort you to Warped Tour because you’re also 13 years old. This is why I’ve mostly avoided any modern output by newer bands wearing the “punk” label for the past few years.
Runaway Kids are bringing something to the table the scene needs very badly, and thats pure, unadulterated honesty. Sure, their sound is much more “modern” than I’d prefer (early Sum 41 immediately comes to mind), but the message behind the music redeems it all. America’s political climate has shifted so far towards the church that society itself is poisoning itself in bible-thumping hatred for anyone who believes anything even remotely different than what they believe, and it’s imperative, in my opinion, that musicians who have the ability to raise their voices and help guide the kids in a direction that’s more accepting, more unified, and far more eager for a better future for themselves and those around them should do so. While Runaway Kids may not be my kind of music, they’re making overly accessible, modern punk rock with an old-school twist. I firmly believe, if this song is any example of their other output (I was only offered this one song), this band has the chance of aiding in building a better future by showing the kids a better way, and I’m curious enough to listen to the full album when I get the chance.
DRADNATS has always been an interesting amalgamation of hardcore and last-generation emo pop-punk. Hailing from Japan on Pizza of Death Records, DRADNATS is a pretty reliable source of good jams.
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