It’s interesting how I discovered Always Grounded. RJ, the vocalist, randomly ended up on my personal TikTok For You Page in 2019. I am not into wrestling, but he was into pop-punk and seemed cool, so I gave him a follow. I eventually listened to his band, Always Grounded, when I saw he had a band.
General Thoughts about Always Grounded
I was taking a drive when I decided to throw on Always Grounded’s discography. For the most part, I enjoy them a lot.
They definitely do nostalgic pop-punk well. You can hear the Tom Delonge influence out of RJ, but it’s not completely a copy. While you can also hear the Blink-182 influence in their songs, it’s not like Always Grounded is a Blink-182 carbon copy. Other influences definitely shine through and shine through well.
They definitely have a sense of humor. They often poke fun at the fact that Eli is blind and Jude is diabetic on their TikTok.
Something About Me Just Seems Off
“Something About Me Just Seems Off” has been stuck in my head for weeks now.
It’s catchy, has a very bittersweet feel to it, and is further proof a song does not have to be intricate under the hood to make you feel something. As commonly used as I-vi-IV-V is, it’s a satisfying chord progression.
The lyrics are simple and the point of view is clear – life is horrible, but sad songs make you happy, happy songs don’t do it, and it’s weird because you’d think it’d be the other way around.
There’s a charm to this song being acoustic. I’m torn about if I would want to hear a full-band version. I could see Always Grounded still going in 10 years, then use a break in the set for RJ and Eli to play this as a duo and it would be the most wholesome thing on this planet.
Something About Me Just Seems Off Music Video
The music video for “Something About Me Just Seems Off” is hysterical. As a huge fan of Foo Fighters, I am definitely an appreciator of a hilarious music video.
An older man, whom I presume is RJ and Eli’s dad, sends them outside to play instead of sitting in the living room singing sad songs. They play baseball, but not with baseballs, they’re hitting CDs. The CDs destroyed included Adele 25, a Toby Love album that I cannot identify based on just the CD art alone, JoJo The High Road, and a few more CDs that could not be identified.
Someone wanted to use Blink-182’s Nine as a baseball, but RJ rescued it from further harm, which caused a fight. But, in the end, they got over it and walked off into the sunset.
RJ openly loves One Tree Hill
I love One Tree Hill so I need to shout this out.
As seen above, RJ is wearing a Clothes Over Bros shirt. For those who are not familiar, that is Brooke Davis’ clothing brand in the show. I hope we get a cover of “I Don’t Wanna Be” by Gavin DeGraw from Always Grounded someday. I would melt.
If you are interested to hear why I think Dan Scott is the most underrated villain of all time, click here.
This Place Sucks But You Guys Don’t
RJ has a YouTube video explaining what “This Place Sucks But You Guys Don’t” is about it. He explains how Pop Punk brings people together. Specifically, he references how concerts bring people together and touches on his relationship with his brother Eli. He said he and Eli weren’t close growing up. That changed when they began to bond over music.
This is the number one thing I love about concerts – everybody is there for the same reason. You are all at the venue to see the band you are there to see.
Musically, this song is fun. Since expanding to a full band, you start to hear the other influences shine through, such as New Found Glory and Neck Deep.
Closing Thoughts
Always Grounded has a ton of potential.
With them starting as a duo in 2020 and then expanding the band from a duo to a five-piece, they are still in their infancy of being a band. They are still experimenting with their sound, from songs like “Another Sad Song” to “Thanks For Being My Energy Drink.”
Always Grounded reminds me of Real Friends in the sense of where they are at musically. In regards to Real Friends, when you listen to their discography while Dan Lambton was their singer from start to finish, the growth you hear is amazing.
I think Always Grounded will be similar.
To support Always Grounded, here are their socials below:
