Cartel

Breaking out in the mid-aughts, Cartel artfully threaded the space between the turn-of-the-millennium pop-punk tidal wave and the widespread virality of the social media generation, cutting their blend of hyper-melodic pop-rock with reflective lyricism and ambitious sonic versatility.

The Conyers, GA-based group quickly rose through the underground on the back of their 2005 breakthrough LP, Chroma, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, bore the Gold-certified hit “Honestly” and launched the childhood friends – vocalist/guitarist Will Pugh, guitarists Joseph Pepper and Nic Hudson and drummer Kevin Sanders – onto Warped Tour, TRL, Epic Records and millions of MySpace Top 8s.

Nearly two decades and more than 250,000 copies later, the album still resonates as a genre hallmark, hailed as one of the greatest pop-punk records of all time by Rock Sound and Loudwire and a singalong staple at emo nights around the world. But while the lightning-in-a-bottle energy of their debut took them from regional buzz band to mainstream names to know, it’s their insatiable desire to never settle that’s kept them one of the most respected acts in the genre to this day.

From the moody, angular guitars and experimental song structures that colored 2007’s top-20 debuting Cartel through the heavier impulses of 2009’s Cycles and atmospheric, airy melodicism the group elevated on their 2013 self-released Collider, the ebbs and flows of the band’s career have always shown Cartel’s desire to prioritize their own self-fulfillment over critical and commercial acclaim.