Meet Me @ The Altar Review: Digging Up the Sounds of Pop-Punk Past
November 17, 2023
Championed by screeching lyrics of heartbreak and heavy guitar riffs, the pop-punk genre has slowly but steadily crept its way back into the live music scene in recent years. But, since its glory days of Fall Out Boy, fishnet stockings, and brightly coloured spiked hair, the genre has fallen victim to overly produced sounds that are solely rooted in nostalgia.
US trio, Meet Me @ The Altar, have spearheaded the genre’s revival with great public success since they began posting covers of pop-punk songs in 2018 and released their self-made hit ‘Garden’ in 2020. The band’s closing show of their UK tour in the iconic London venue, The Underworld, saw generations young and old, come together to dust off their combat boots and reminisce for an evening. In a genre historically dominated by straight, white men; lead singer Edith Victoria, bass player Téa Campbell, and drummer Ada Juarez, have broken the mould of what they call, ‘white dudes crying over their girlfriends’ .
The Underworld has played host to the likes of Radiohead, Fall Out Boy, Twenty One Pilots, and Silverchair, since its inception in 1990, and epitomises the borough of Camden as an epicentre of the UK’s alternative music scene.
Fans littered themselves through the venue, milling around the various bars and main stage, each with a pint of locally brewed ale in hand. A deep red glow lit up the faces of the younger fans, packed into the mosh pit, a sea of septum piercings and thick black eyeliner. Supporting act Cody Frost gave a heartfelt and edgy performance. Taking in the fashion, the music and the crowd, it seemed as if The Underworld had transformed into a time capsule of the noughties for the evening. The older fans, forty and fifty something year old’s, stood behind the mosh and out of the action, observing the scene from the raised platforms at the back of the room.
The crowd responded well to Frost and her deep, unclean vocals, as she made funny quips at the audience between songs, ‘I’ve got ADHD and I can’t shut the fuck up!’ With her bright red hair gelled into two devil horns and the fast-paced electric guitar riffs that accompanied her vocals, Frost certainly delivered the ‘punk’ that so many other artists miss.
When MMATA entered the stage, the crowd erupted with excitement, a clearly passionate fanbase. The girls launched straight into their set with ‘Same Language’ from their recent debut album ‘Past // Present // Future’, produced by the industry icon John Fields, who has worked alongside the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato. Victoria danced across the stage as she sang, shaking her head and neon pink and green hair extensions to the beat, holding the audience with her every word. She delivered an admirable energy and enthusiasm that captivated the audience, but her vocals became repetitive with the predictable chorus chants of ‘Need Me’ and ‘Say It (To My Face)’. Campbell proved an excellent support on bass and backup vocals, with hurtling guitar solos that broke into metallic, fast-paced riffs at the perfect moments. Juarez on drums gave a passionate but unexciting performance, where rhythm breakdowns dropped into half-speed tempos during most songs.
The band’s earlier self-released songs ‘Beyond My Control’ and ‘Garden’ were huge hits with the crowd, who sang every lyric and banged their heads to the chorus in a fittingly punk manner. These older songs which brought the band to notoriety back in 2020, hold a far deeper optimism and authenticity than those featured on MMATA’s new album. The band’s signing to iconic pop-punk label Fueled By Ramen in 2020 could be to blame for this shift in sound and the scathing reviews that surround the new album’s release, labelling it as ‘blandly produced’ and ‘watered down’ (Corrigan, 2023). This shift towards a more commercial, ‘pop’ sound under the label, which signed bygone legends Paramore and Panic! At The Disco, has proven more marketable but far less enjoyable.
It’s unsurprising that MMATA have lost their authentic edge and now continue to push out watered-down versions of grungy, heartbreak anthems that died out 20 years ago. With the resurgence of ‘y2k’ fashion and now the pop-punk genre, it’s evident we’re still living through the cultural hangover of the 2000’s. But despite this lack of success surrounding ‘Past // Present // Future’, MMATA have certainly pioneered a new inclusivity movement within pop-punk and hold a strong fanbase whose enthusiasm was evident throughout the night. Between songs, Victoria praised the crowd for making up the biggest audience of the band’s tour and Campbell yelled out an important question: ‘Are there any gay people here?’
The audience gave back a loud cheer, a definite and triumphant answer to Campbell’s question. MMATA’s popularity has been of great significance, with three black and brown women topping the charts of a genre that was once riddled with exclusivity, casual misogyny and a lack of representation. The girls closed their set with another song from their new album, ‘Kool’. An upbeat number about trying to impress your crush, topped with the band’s signature heavy drums, metallic guitar riffs and pop vocal melodies.
There was an evident bittersweetness in the air as the crowd banged their heads and huddled together, with the imminent approach of the final verse and the evening’s close. MMATA gave a passionate and worthwhile performance that certainly met the expectations of their fans, but with each song and all too familiar chorus chant, it became clear that the girls weren’t delivering anything that hadn’t been done before. While their records may be stuck in the past, the band’s massive success has proved that we’re not quite ready to give up our deep nostalgia and obsession with all things 2000’s.
