Pundits are quick to peg Shadows Fall as the once-big metalcore band that went bust, but man, what the hell happened to Unearth? Talk about a fall from grace… they were right up there with Killswitch Engage around 2005 but the bottom completely fell out from underneath them. There’s an alternate universe in which Unearth, not All That Remains, are the most popular band to come out of Massachusetts; it could’ve easily happened, people.

So this is what Unearth’s twisted genius guitarist Ken Susi is up to these days: a pop-punk band called USA! USA! USA! This isn’t your average bubblegum teenage angst pop-punk ala Blink 182; it’s clever old-man popbang crunchy guitar pop ala Sugarcult or Marvelous 3. Aside from Susi the band is coy about its membership; various Internet sources list Emmure, Bury Your Dead and Arise & Ruin in the “ex” category while the USA!3X Facebook page simply lists Frank, Romeo (Susi), Dave, Bang and Pat. Those with intimate knowledge of the aforementioned bands and the energy to do some Google sleuthing — armed with the above photo — can surely figure it out, though.

The good news is that at least the band is good, although most of you will probably instantly hate them. I totally get the appeal of creating music like this, though — it’s fun and easy and feel-good-y — and Susi is a brilliant musician who can crank out stuff like this and smarten it up in ways that non-musicians cannot comprehend (I don’t mean that as a put-down towards those of you who don’t play instruments… it’s just a fact). Unearth were never like uber-serious cvlt dudes, but sometimes it’s fun to go full bore in the fun direction, and a dude with Susi’s abilities can nail it.

Watch the band’s new video for “Marissa” below; Every Time I Dieguitarist Andy Williams makes a guest appearance. You can stream and buy their entire album What’s Your Name? at Bandcamp; every song is named after a lady.

[via The PRP]