This year, Warped is packed with bands that have taken to a mixture of electronics and screamo, be it the aggressive Christian technoscreametalcore of Attack Attack or Breathe Carolina's sugary electropop punctuated with growl-filled choruses. Of all these bands, the bulk of the attention continues to be split between brokeNCYDE and another band, Millionaires. This all-female Huntington Beach, California, trio have been relegated to scrunk largely by association. Although Millionaires refrain from any actual screaming over their crunkish beats, their immature and sexually provocative lyrics, weak style, fashion extremes, and secure place in Pete Wentz's Decaydance label have solidified this status – as well as an aura of perma-spite surrounding the group. To many, Millionaires are the quintessential example of the inertia and uncontrollable popularity of scrunk acts: what began with a couple of sisters shouting in-jokes in rhyme over GarageBand beats has snowballed into massive MySpace popularity.
Millionaires' newfound infamy is something singer Melissa Green finds hard to grasp. While on the phone during a break from a recording session in New York City, Green reached to offer an example of the band's positive impact: "As a role model, I don't think what we say is what the younger girls should really look up to saying or doing. The three of us are role models in that we never had the musical abilities to actually play instruments and play guitars." Unfortunately, when it comes to artistic expression, you don't get to choose what other people should and shouldn't focus on. Though some have criticized groups such as Millionaires for their inability to play instruments, a lot of the anger towards scrunk acts has been focused on these bands' oft-misogynistic lyrics. Green's inability to understand that her words, as well as her music, are at the center of attention (typical title: "Just Got Paid, Let's Get Laid") spell a musical movement that has been catapulted into the limelight too fast and too soon.
With the current phase of scrunk at maximum capacity, where does the genre go from here? Just as scrunk already appears to have quickly reached its tipping point, it'll be gone before you know it. "The market's gonna get saturated, just like the emo market did and the screamo market did, and then three or five of those bands will persevere and have a longer career," says Lyman. Whereas some scrunk bands have stirred up controversy, it will take a little more to persevere. As Lyman puts it, "If they don't get songs, if they don't really start to have the talent behind it, I'm not judging them, but they won't be around in a few years."
BROKENCYDE + MILLIONAIRES + OTHERS at WARPED TOUR | July 21 at Comcast Center, 885 South Main St, Mansfield | $26.25 | www.warpedtour.com or www.livenation.com
