ALWAYS GROUNDED’S ‘LETTERS TO MY YOUTH’: “2000’s NOSTALGIA IN 2021 DONE RIGHT” (REVIEW)

Connecticut-based Pop-punk newbies Always Grounded have just dropped their newest EP today, and it’s a beautiful reminder that the genre is very much alive and still kicking.

The five-piece band, which consists of lead vocalist RJ Dionne, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Eli Dionne, lead guitarist Jude Alexander, bassist David DaSilva, and drummer Marcelo Erazo, released their brand new EP, titled ‘Letters to my Youth’ and while the band is fairly new with this being only their second official EP release after Far From Perfect in 2020, they somehow manage to pack a punch of 2000’s Pop-punk nostalgia unlike we’ve felt from a new group in a very long time.

‘Letters to my Youth’ could easily be compared to the early years of Blink-182 when it comes to vocals and the overall production of the EP, while giving the same vibe lyrically and instrumentally that Neck Deep’s 2015 release of ‘Life’s Not Out To Get You’ gave us when it first dropped. While the release itself is a near perfect execution of what the pop-punk scene has been craving for a revival, with relatable “finger-pointable” lyrics (you know exactly what we mean by that pop punk fans), the highlights of the debut by far are the single “This Place Sucks but You Guys Don’t”, and of course the fast paced, bouncy (and a little angsty) “Bad Blood”, which has a fantastic feature from Pop-punk trailblazers Handguns.

When asked about the inspiration behind the release, Dionne said:

“When we wrote this EP we didn’t know exactly where it was going. We noticed after we had everything recorded that the theme of life lessons ran throughout the whole thing. These songs were what we needed to hear when we were at our lowest points as kids. We wish we could go back and tell ourselves it’s okay to let go, it’s okay to feel sad, most importantly everything will be OKAY!”

Make sure to check out Always Grounded’s ‘Letters to my Youth’, available now!