As spring sets to summer and skinny jeans are inexplicably macro-made into shorts, one thing is for certain - it's time for pop punk.
While you dig our your old Blink, New Found Glory and Fenix TX records and flip a Goldfinger to modern rock radio, it may be time to stop looking to the ghosts of pop punk past and embrace the brightest lights on the scene.
With crisp riffs ripping through bright, bubbly beats and high-pitched vocals racing to an a cappella breakdown nearing most song's end, the Lima, Oh. pop punksters Hit The Lights (HTL) have managed to kick the scene firmly in the junk and captivate flocks of junkies along the way.
Ripping onto the scene with This is a Stickup...Don't Make it a Murder, Hit The Lights has managed to take bitter post-relationship resentment and craft it into fluorescent, pop punky anthems primed for mid-route or mid-show sing-a-longs.
With a live show that rivals just about anyone in their genre and lyrics reminiscent of Take This To Your Grave-era Fall Out Boy, Hit The Lights has all the potential to blow up, but had to overcome a near collapse just to start over from step one.
Fading from bright to bleak, to eventually returning and splatter painting their mark all over the scene yet again, vocalist and former guitar player Nick Thompson was not only a key factor in the rebirth of HTL, but is here to dish out the details.
Usually topped with a Chicago Cubs fitted and a button-up flannel shirt (though seen here in a T-shirt), Thompson fronts HTL with fan-fed intensity and smooth, polished vocals. Though clearly now in his element, Thompson never intended on singing anything other than "sick three part harmonies" with ex-vocalist Colin Ross and bass buddy David Bermosk. When Ross left, Thompson stepped in.
"At the time, I was perfectly happy playing guitar and singing back up. There's this kind of responsibility that goes in with vocals and I've never really liked my voice either," Thompson said. "So, I figured using MySpace and stuff like that, that we were at a big enough point where we'd be able to get a lot of people to send submissions and maybe get someone that we'd like.
"As time went on, there were a few prospects that didn't work out and didn't feel right, so eventually I think we took like nine months off and were like 'if we don't actually do this and make the record, we're just gonna kind of fade out." We didn't wanna do that. We wanted to release at least one more record. We wanted to get like a pop punk record that we were really proud of and we we're just like 'f*ck it' and I stepped up and that's what happened."
Now fronting the act he played such a part in setting the background to, Thompson's voice rose, but his role in the creative process managed to stay the same. In fact, everyone's did.
"A lot of people make the misconception that singers have to write all the music and stuff. In the case of Colin, we wrote a lot of the songs. I don't want to say Colin had nothing to do with it - Colin actually played drums on the first record - but as far as songwriting goes and stuff like that, a lot of that was me and Omar," Thompson said. "So, when people are like 'oh there new sound's changed so much,' its like, well, if you knew your sh*t, you'd probably know that either way, our record with or without Colin would have sounded like Skip School does to some degree or another."
With and without Ross, Hit The Lights has made a name for themselves with their non-stop touring schedule and all-out live performances. Though they rarely face critique for their music, many have questioned their ethic for touring with poppier bands on the rise like Cute Is What We Aim For, The Maine and Forever The Sickest Kids.
"Honestly, it's kind of like a high school mentality that you kinda have to get over. We got the chance to be on bigger tours and stuff that we're gonna take if we're gonna put up more people," Thompson said. "If people have problems with that - think about it - were just exposing more kids to good music. And if they think that we are good music, then there shouldn't be anything wrong with it.
"I understand there's some bands that like, lack credibility and stuff, and you may not like the music, but as for us, we're there to play in front of kids - we're not trying to change who we are or anything, we've never done that. All we're doing is playing the exact same way we have before, just in front of more kids. It's not really validated and like I said, it's that high school elitist mentality that's kind of like annoying, but as self esteem goes, it's what it is.
"We're not gonna stop being who we are. We're not gonna change our sound for anything other than what we wanna do and that's our stand. We'll also be doing headlining tours with bands that we wanna take out, so if kids don't want to come to these shows, they have plenty of time to put their money where there mouth is and come to headlining shows."
Speaking of change, the band recently released the song "Pulse" after winning the Taco Bell Feed The Beat competition. Though significantly poppier than anything they have previously done, the band isn't in the process of selling out - they're just serving up something a little different.
"'Pulse' was a song that was super, super poppy and it kinda came about from just messing with one riff that Dave had and we ended up writing a song around it. It's just straight pop is all it is," Thompson said. "We thought it was cool because it was something we'd never done before. And I like it. I like the song a lot. I don't think kids have anything to worry about.
"We're not like trying to go Disney or anything like that. It's just something we knew we could do and wanted to do because we know that we have a lot more things to take care of for the next record. Doing something like that is cool and it's relaxing and it gets some stuff off your chest too."
And though a lot of bands are experimenting with new sounds and receiving a lot of backlash for it, as most recently seen with the electro-fused Cartel, Thompson and HTL are far from worried.
"I'm not embarrassed about our song. I love "Pulse." I know people talk sh*t on Youtube and stuff like that, which when I first heard I was like 'Oh man, I don't want to be that band,'" Thompson said. "However, it's grown on me and I don't want other bands to ruin sh*t. I don't do it just cause another band does it, like they didn't invent that stuff. You can't worry about that. And if people are worried that that's our new sound, they shouldn't have to. That's just something that we did and we're really happy with it."
Not only happy with their "Pulse," Lima's lights are all stoked to be on the sold out AP Tour (playing the Town Ballroom this Saturday) with breaking artists like 3OH!3 and Family Force 5. With nothing but positives to say about their co-headliners, Thompson took on Family Force 5 first and then shot to Boulder for 3OH!3.
"They're [FF5] awesome - funniest dudes ever. They have the same sense of humor that we do. Because were from Ohio and stuff, we're Midwest, but a lot of our state and where we're from is kind of backwoodsian, kinda got like a redneck kinda of influence. We kind of like trade off on the accents and stuff like that because they have the same jokes and the same fake accents and stuff, so its hilarious. We have fun."
And 3OH!3...
"There f*cking awesome. Kids go ape sh*t for them. We actually knew about them before they were signed. Dave, our bassist, had their video for Hollaback that they released and they were just two white dudes from Colorado that were rappers. And it was awesome. Those guys are hilarious. They're awesome, they're good live, kids are way into them and it's just a kick a** thing to see."
Releasing an EP in the summer, touring straight through the year and even testing the waters over in Japan, Hit The Lights and their undeniably catchy music are primed for success. Oddly enough, the one medium left for them to conquer is the radio, which their music is already perfect for. Cue Triple Crown.
"The radio is definitely a label thing. Triple Crown is a great label and they've stuck by us for a while, but it doesn't have that total push to go to radio. This is our last record with Triple Crown now. I think were gonna release this EP just cause we wanted to get something out released on Triple Crown, but we'll be on a new label for the next record," Thompson said.
As rest is for the dead, Hit The Lights has stayed out and up many a night delivering sweat drenched shows to their ever-growing fan base and getting back to the place where they were standing at the top of their respective genre. Confident and bigger than ever (excluding Omar's now tamed 'fro), they're set to make 2009 their biggest year yet.
"We have an EP that's going to be coming out for Warped Tour. You can check us out on Warped Tour. We're going to Japan," Thompson said. "We'll be doing some over-seas stuff with Set Your Goes in the fall and then a headlining tour and were definitely gonna bring out some kick a*s bands. So yeah, it'll be awesome. Nothing but good things the rest of the year."
It's officially their time to shine. And yours to skip school, start fights and listen to Hit The Lights.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
