Cartel have dropped two of the strongest comeback singles we’ve heard from a legacy pop punk band in a long long time, and honestly, it feels like people still aren’t talking about it enough.
The Georgia pop punk favourites recently released “Oxy Moron” before returning again this Friday with brand new single “Give Or Take”, and both tracks make it clear this isn’t just a band clinging onto the past. Cartel genuinely sound refreshed right now, like a band with a fresh sense of direction and real momentum behind them again.
For a lot of fans, Cartel will always be tied to 2005’s Chroma, the album that gave us scene staples like “Honestly” and “Say Anything (Else)”. The record helped launch them into the heart of the mid 2000s pop punk boom, earning them tours with bands like New Found Glory and appearances on major platforms like MTV and Madden 07.
Then came the infamous Band In A Bubble era in 2007, where the band recorded an album inside a transparent bubble as part of a massive MTV and Dr Pepper promotional experiment. While the idea brought attention, it also ended up overshadowing the music itself, and over the years Cartel slowly became one of those bands people remembered more for the era than for how genuinely solid their catalogue actually was.
But lately, that narrative feels like it’s changing. The band already returned with “17” and “The End” back in 2022 after a long break from releasing new music, but these latest singles feel even more confident. There’s a maturity to them without losing the melodic hooks that made Cartel stand out in the first place.
“Oxy Moron” especially has been getting attention from longtime fans online, with many calling it some of the band’s strongest material in years. Over on Chorus.fm, the track was praised for feeling refreshed while still carrying the core identity that made Cartel click in the first place.
At the same time, Will Pugh recently spoke with Chorus.fm about the band’s future, confirming new music is actively in the works following the re recorded version of Chroma and the band’s recent resurgence.
That’s probably the most exciting thing here. These songs don’t feel like a band desperately trying to recreate 2005. They feel like a band that actually knows where it wants to go next.
And judging by these latest releases, we’re FULLY here for it!
