Pop punk “Halloween Mixtape” by Magnolia Park excites

Pop punk has been in a surprisingly good state for the past year. Bands like First and Forever and Girlfriends have been popping up across the indie scene.

Major-label artists like Machine Gun Kelly and Olivia Rodrigo have also flirted with the genre to great commercial success. Pop punk is back, at least to some extent. But it remains to be seen if it will stick around.

One of the groups to emerge out of this boom has been Magnolia Park, a six-piece band from Orlando, Florida. Off the bat, the lineup is already something to note.

Old-school pop punk groups rarely had more than four members—Magnolia Park has as many players as Blink-182 and Green Day combined.

They’re not the only band to expand their lineup like this, and I think the shift to hiring more players in the genre is likely tied to another trend.

Pop punk is becoming more complex, and more diverse sonically—and Magnolia Park is certainly emblematic of this shift.

In total, the group has two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, a synth player and a vocalist. Quite the arsenal, yet the band puts in work to justify their ambitious lineup.

The formula of 2000s pop punk survives in certain elements of the band’s song writing. Ultimately, common chord progressions and guitar hooks combined with simple vocal melodies are the bedrock for everything. That’s not a bad thing, of course—that formula provides a brilliant framework with which to write songs. And Magnolia Park, ultimately, has satisfying songwriting in many regards. Their song structures and overall arrangements are effective, and the vocal lines are easy on the ears.

One aspect that I think benefits the band is the addition of electronics. The synths help to provide an extra layer to the wall of sound. They, along with the lead guitars, supplement many of these songs with countermelodies that other bands often neglect to include.

There’s not a lot of complexity, but what is here is good, and that’s more than what a lot of bands can say. I’ll say one thing, though: over the years, the pop side of the pop punk formula has been winning out against the punk side. That’s prevalent here.

The band doesn’t rock very hard and is about as accessible as you can get. I tend to prefer things with a bit more of an edge, but this album’s charms made it enjoyable to me nonetheless.

The production on this record is somewhat heavy handed. The band is influenced not only by pop punk but also by more modern hip-hop and pop, and there are elements that reflect this.

Traditional drum sounds use 808s as a supplement, for example, and vocal effects are used on a handful of tracks.

There’s some areas where I think that the litany of production tricks and drum machines can become excessive, and I would venture to say the album is somewhat overproduced.

Higher production values are common in pop punk, but they mostly aimed to replace the lo-fi sound of 70s and 80s hardcore by capturing better guitar sounds and cleaner mixes.

What Magnolia Park has done is definitely beyond that, and I do think cutting back a little couldn’t hurt. However, in terms of EQ and mixing, the album still does well.

I think the band was wise in giving the electronic elements a notable but not overbearing place in the mix—it’s very easy to crank the volume up just a little too high on that type of thing. I think turning the vocals up somewhat wouldn’t be a bad move. Nitpicking aside, I’d say whoever was in the booth did a pretty good job overall. Just ease up on the processing.

There’s certainly areas I would like to see the band build upon in terms of songwriting and production, but that’s the nature of debut albums. There’s always room for growth, and for Magnolia Park, I’m interested to see what further projects can provide.

For now, though, I’d say that the nine tracks on display here are certainly worth your time. I can see myself returning to this set of songs throughout the next few weeks as fall turns to winter. In the increasingly competitive world of modern pop punk, Magnolia Park have earned their spot at the table.