San Diego newcomers Super Sometimes plant their flag with debut album Show The World What’s Underneath, a love letter to turn-of-the-century pop-punk built by kids who actually grew up on it.

Words by Felix Bartlett | May 16, 2026

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Super Sometimes have already had the kind of 12 months most bands wait a career for. A viral single last August catapulted the San Diego trio past 20,000 listeners almost overnight, a name change and a Pure Noise deal followed, and now they’re plotting Show The World What’s Underneath while opening for Arm’s Length across the US, with Warped Tour in Washington DC landing in their lap in June.

Guitarist-vocalist Dylan Guzman, who can sound uncannily like Mark Hoppus when the mood takes him, attended his first Warped Tour at three years old. Co-vocalist Gabriel Muñoz and drummer Matthew Ludwig are similarly steeped. The Blink-182, Pierce The Veil, New Found Glory DNA of their hometown isn’t a costume here. It’s the operating system.

That genealogy shows. Opener Afterthought is straight out of the Paramore Riot! handbook, all frenzied snare rolls and snarling vocal trades, while Make Up Stories pivots into the coming-of-age angst that defined the genre’s mid-2010s torchbearers. Learned My Lesson is the breeziest moment, a body-bouncer with piano trills doing the heavy emotional lifting underneath, and See This Coming channels State Champs at their most quietly furious. So far, so faithful.

The interesting stuff happens when they wander off-script. Always You messes with rhythm and tempo in a way the rest of the record doesn’t quite dare, push and pull, swell and hush, before crashing into a chorus designed for arena-side fields. Common Place trades volume for synths, strings and an acoustic guitar, conjuring an ache that sits closer to Magnolia Park than to Blink. Then comes the title track, where the album finally bares its teeth, layered vocals giving way to a screamed breakdown that hints at heavier shapes this band could grow into.

The back half barrels home harder. Spend is the sound of three musicians having a brilliant time about something they almost gave up on, Ludwig in particular thrashing his kit like the snare owes him money. Medicine arrives armed with a bass line built to break ribs, and closer Prophet detonates with the album’s filthiest hook: “All respect I had for you, you fucking lost it.” Mic drop, scene closed.

For an opening statement, it lands. The kids from In-N-Out clearly aren’t going back to flipping burgers any time soon.

Verdict: 💀💀💀💀

For fans of: Knuckle Puck, State Champs, Magnolia Park

Show The World What’s Underneath is out May 15 via Pure Noise Records