5 Songs I Love w/ Kawaii AF

Following the release of their latest single, 'Simply Hopeless', Flex caught up with Brandon from Kawaii AF to discover what influences the band's signature pop-punk sound. If you enjoy Kawaii AF's picks, be sure to check out 'Simply Hopeless' at the end of the article.

1. “Jabberjaw”- Pain

Back in the 90s and early 00s, Cartoon Network had this segment that they would play during the commercials called “Cartoon Groovies”,  that showcased music videos based around the cartoons that would play on the channel. The earliest one that I remember having the biggest impact on me was the music video for “Jabberjaw” by the Ska Punk band “Pain”. It was my first exposure to punk rock before I even knew what punk rock was. I had to be like 5 or 6 years old. To this day, I don’t even know what the members of Pain look like. For me, they will be forever immortalized as the 90s rock renditions of The Neptunes as depicted in that video. 

2. “Makes No Difference”- Sum 41

One of my favorite video games growing up was “Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2” for the PS2. The soundtrack wasn’t as stacked with punk rock like the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games, but there were two songs that I would choose to replay back to back over and over and that was this song and “All My Fault” by Fenix TX. But there would be some play throughs where I would only have this song playing in an infinite loop for like 3 hours. And even though years down the line, Sum 41 would become one of my favorite pop punk bands and I would end up watching the official music videos to all of their songs, when this comes on, I still visualize me sitting on the couch, PS2 controller in hand, landing “Supermans” and “Barspins”. Rest in peace Dave Mirra.

3. “I’d Do Anything”- Simple Plan

I always tell the story about the day that I decided that I wanted to be in a pop punk band. It was 2005, I was 13 years old and my dad told me that I couldn’t buy the clean version of 50 Cent’s “The Massacre”. After putting the 50 Cent CD back on the rack, I ended up picking up Simple Plan’s first album “No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls”after recognizing their name from movie soundtracks. I’ll never forget the feeling I felt when I got home, hit play on my CD player and the first few riffs of “I’d Do Anything” came blasting through my headphones. The whole trajectory of my musical journey changed right then and there. This was the first album I ever bought with my own money, so this was the first time I had ever spent sitting down and reading song lyrics. Flipping through the pages and getting engrossed in the photos of the members with their spiked hair, studded belts and Dickies pants, wreaking havoc inside of the CD booklet. I could honestly go on and on about the entire album, but it all starts with that opening track.

4. “Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner” - Fall Out Boy

By high school, I was already super into the rebellious nature and snot nosed attitudes of pop punk bands like Sum 41, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte and Bowling For Soup. But when I discovered Fall Out Boy, I was introduced into the much moodier and poetic side of pop punk. There are a bunch of FOB songs that I could have named for this, but this one held the moment that inspired a 9th grade me to up his pen game. When I heard the lyrics “So wear me like a locket around your throat. I’ll weigh you down, I’ll watch you choke. You look so good in blue. You look so good in blue”, I realized that I wasn’t gonna be satisfied with just writing cliche songs about getting grounded and trying to get girls. I wanted to cut deep and coin deliciously clever lines. Pete Wentz became my goal as a song writer.

5. “Seventy Times 7” - Brand New

2011 would mark the year that I went full emo. “Your Favorite Weapon” from Brand New was on constant repeat front to back and “Seventy Times 7” was easily my favorite track. One day while looking up the lyrics and song meaning, I came across an article talking about the infamous Brand New VS Taking Back Sunday beef where the two bands came at each other through their songs, which only made me even more captivated by both “Your Favorite Weapon” and Taking Back Sunday’s “Tell All Your Friends”. The vocal deliveries were a little more abrasive than what I was used to hearing but after watching the live videos of the two bands performing each other’s diss songs together on the same stage during their 2002 tour, I finally understood what “emo” was all about. It wasn’t about being the best singer or even best musician. It was about the drama, the brutal “heart on sleeve” honesty and the chaotic energy from the stage to the crowd.

Listen to 'Simply Hopeless':