EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: 54 Reasons - “If It’s Not Champagne Apple & Honey, It’s Kraft Mayo”
“I can give you 54 Reasons why 54 Reasons’ new track should be on your playlist”
by Jesse Smith
Houston, Tx is the home of one of the most unique underground artists I’ve heard in awhile. 54 Reasons is a pop punk three piece that isn’t afraid to push boundaries and mix cultures to create something really artistic in their new single “If It’s Not Champagne Apple & Honey, It’s Kraft Mayo”. The project started 10 years ago in 2013. Through lineup changes, Vocalist/Guitarist Juan Alvarez kept it alive and today he is joined by Evan Plyler and Coner Morgan. This band may not be brand new, but their music and artistry is fresh and relevant and that comes out majorly in this Single.
First off, you know I am a sucker for long song titles, and to read the sentence that is this song title brought actual joy to my emo heart. As I was mentally geared up I was taken back and had to double check that it was the right song. The song starts off with a flavorful latin beat and vibe and Juan starts in Spanish. What threw me off was not the spanish, actually that made me want to listen more, but it was that at first this sounded like Bad Bunny. Although bad bunny has been known to throw rock influences into his music, it was something I was not prepared to be hit with, but this was not a bad thing. I was hooked, I needed to hear where this went. The music stayed this latin groove but in a blink of an eye It switched languages and vibe, this is where the Blink 182 influence came out HARD. It started with the typical pop punk exaggerated vocal tone and pronunciations, but then it was a seamless transition into a pretty impactful pop punk chorus. Going from Latin pop to Pop Punk in a blink of an eye and having it feel so authentic and unique really hooked me. This track also both in lyrical content and delivery was heavily influenced by the crossover of the solo emo rap artist that jumped to pop punk, We are all aware of what that sound is.
This song is a blend of what is done too much, and what isn’t done at all. The mixture of the latin music and pop punk both yesterdays and today's standards was refreshing. 54 Reasons definitely hit a home run with this track, The gamble of the genre mix played off and it’s because it was very well executed. If I was them, I would keep down this path and perfect it. This is a huge opportunity to have a very unique Identity, the signs are there.