Formed in Atlanta in the summer of 2024, The Paradox — Eric Dangerfield (vocals/guitar), Christopher “Xelan” Bernard(lead guitar/ vocals), Donald Bryant (bass), and Percy “PC3” Crews (drums) — are among the most exciting new bands in rock music.
As four young African American musicians from a city better known for rap and R&B, they are redefining the look and sound of pop-punk, tapping into the spirit of genre pioneers while keeping their eyes firmly on the future.
Their rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Within three weeks of posting their first content online, the band had already surpassed 130,000 followers. Less than a year and a half later, they are sitting at 2.1 million followers across all platforms, have landed a Billboard Alternative Airplay #1, and are touring alongside some of the biggest names in rock.
What makes The Paradox truly special is the cultural moment they represent. Pop-punk has never had a band quite like them — and audiences across race, genre, and geography have responded.
Their co-signs read like a who’s who of rock royalty and cultural tastemakers: Billie Joe Armstrong personally invited them to open a Green Day stadium show; Travis Barker jumped on their single “Bender”; Joel Madden, Jack White, Kid Cudi, SZA, and LeBron James have all publicly championed the band.
The Paradox are not just the hottest band in punk — they are a cultural movement.
Since emerging from the sun-soaked San Diego scene, SUPER SOMETIMES have embraced pop-punk’s most public tradition: growing up in real time. The young trio – vocalists/guitarists Gabriel Muñoz and Dylan Guzman and drummer Matthew Ludwig – have expanded their reach from local rooms to national stages and social media FYPs, pairing restless energy and irreverent humor with a forward-looking confidence to carry the torch for a genre that raised them.
That momentum crystallizes on SHOW THE WORLD WHAT’S UNDERNEATH, the group’s first original full-length for Pure Noise Records. Bridging skate punk, new-millennium pop charisma and modern angst, the songs explore coming-of-age malaise, romantic fallout and the thrill – and fear – of fully committing to the road ahead, rooted in the real stakes of putting everything on the line.
“We’ve all had to make a lot of grown-up decisions very quickly,” Guzman says. “For some of us, that meant not going to college or working as much as we could just to afford to go on tour and really give this a true shot.”
What emerges is a debut that captures the same limitless potential as the records that first inspired Super Sometimes: modern touchstones like State Champs, The Story So Far and Seaway alongside icons blink-182, New Found Glory and Green Day. True to its name, Show The World What’s Underneath reads as both mission statement and challenge – the first leap of a band determined to be seen on its own terms.