FOUR STARS RELEASE NEW SINGLE - "THERE IS NO WAR IN BA SING SE"

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: while I'm all for fun drinking songs and party anthems, using the medium of punk rock to stand up for the underprivileged and rail against tyranny will always earn my respect. As a certifiably "old" man, I never got on the pop punk train but bands like Four Stars may have me reconsidering. They've got the instrumentation of great skate punk with pop punk vocals, and their message carries a heap more weight than my ancient ears are used to. This is good stuff.

Incredibly tight, angular musicianship provides a surprisingly well-framed backdrop for misleadingly sweet vocals that carry a similarly surprisingly heavy message and it all works surprisingly well. (Excuse the overuse of the word "surprisingly", it was all a very pleasant surprise.)

Now, more than ever we need artists that hold our leaders accountable and Four Stars does that without losing that exciting, dare I say 'fun' aesthetic. And was that a brief rap break followed by another brief metal breakdown at the end? Mixing up genres mid-song doesn't always work, but as a self-proclaimed music critic, I can comfortably say that in this case, the old man approves.

"There is no War in Ba Sing Se" is well written, technically impressive and easy to listen to, even if the subject matter is not always easy to hear. It is necessary for us to hear it though, and this offering is a damn good place to start.

We added the single to our Underground Punk playlist on Spotify.

Now stop reading and start listening.

Four Stars - "There Is No War in Ba Sing Se"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLMNfCeZGAc&list=RDWLMNfCeZGAc&start_radio=1