Unapologetically themselves.

The beginning

Eric Dangerfield was working at an Atlanta vape shop when he decided to build the pop-punk band he’d always wanted. June 2024: he linked up with Donald Bryant and Christopher “Xelan” Bernard. By July the socials were live — original drummer Deon Lewis was out, Percy “PC3” Crews was in — and the numbers went crazy: 110,000 followers in three weeks, 730,000 in a month. All from songs Dangerfield wrote in his apartment and posted on Instagram.

First song “Kaitlyn” dropped July 3, 2024 and blew up. Within a month of forming, Billie Joe Armstrong personally invited them to open Green Day’s Atlanta show. Jack White called for Nashville.

The sound

They didn’t invent pop-punk — they took it and made it theirs. Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41 in the DNA, but the attitude is all Paradox. And each guy brings his own flavor: Dangerfield’s voice and rhythm guitar, Xelan’s lead work, Bryant holding down the bass, PC3 driving the drums. Four distinct styles that lock into one band.

That’s what I respect about them — they’re unapologetically themselves. Nobody handed them a lane. They built their own, loud.

The respect

Here’s what gets me: they honor the genre and the bands that came before them — and those bands honor them right back. Billie Joe didn’t just notice them, he put them on his stage. Travis Barker jumped on “Bender” and brought them out at Warped Tour. SZA, Kid Cudi, Jack White, LeBron James — all co-signing.

And they’ve got the attitude to match: “Do Me Like That” was almost titled “Subaru” until Subaru’s lawyers sent a cease and desist. The band’s response? Film themselves singing it outside a Subaru dealership.

Right now

“Get the Message” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay in January 2026 — the first all-Black band ever to do it. The track landed on the NBA 2K26 soundtrack. New EP Proceed With Caution dropped October 2. They signed a publishing deal with EMPIRE, played NPR’s Tiny Desk, and made YouTube’s Foundry Class of 2026.

And the debut headline tour — 21 shows, every one sold out — kicks off October 14 in Dallas and closes November 18 in their hometown of Atlanta. Two years from a vape shop to this.