Videos: The Paradox – “Living Hell”

It’s difficult to talk about The Paradox without getting a little misty-eyed. Growing up in the 90s, I absolutely loved punk rock music and adjacent subgenres with every fiber of my being. I’ve lost count of the hours I’ve spent getting tinnitus by blasting bands like Blink-182, New Found Glory, etc. If it was on labels like Fat Wreck, Drive-Thru and Epitaph there’s a good chance I was gonna play the ever-loving shit out of it. The only difference was, there were few kids in my immediate vicinity that looked like me who listened to this music much less perform it. Yes, we now know that this wasn’t exactly the case and our worldview was limited due to the fact that social media really pop off like it that until the late-2000s into the 2010s. My people created rock music, but it seemed like we weren’t often able to participate in it without blowback or ridicule.

Back in Summer 2025, I received a text from my sister asking if I wanted to see The Paradox perform with Games We Play at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. It had been ages since we hung out much less gone to a concert since we’re much older and have families. Needless to say I was game no matter what. Shortly after cementing plans I went on YouTube to listen to some of The Paradox’s music to get familiarized with their sound. I let out an audible shriek with excitement, not realizing that the very band my sister and I were going to see live was that band that had been blowing up on social media in the months leading to this show. I spoke on my experience at the concert itself in a recent podcast, but I can summarize it with a line I’m paraphrasing from my sister that night: “I wish this existed when we were kids!”

I can honestly say that The Paradox put on one of the best concerts I have ever seen. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a band that commands a stage like them. The crowd was going absolutely wild and in the center of it were four friends who became friends living out their dreams. Meanwhile, in a small way, my sister and I got to live out a portion of ours that very night.

“The Paradox is in the business of bringing rock and roll back to the originators!”

-Eric Dangerfield of The Paradox

A lot terms tend to get overused to the point of losing all their meaning, but The Paradox have been on a truly generational run. Since blowing up, they’ve opened for some punk rock heavies like All Time Low and Green Day, appearing in the band’s 2026 film, Nimrods. In 2026 alone they’ve seen their hype grow with their stellar NPR Tiny Desk performance back in June, not to mention a completely sold-out headlining tour with fellow pop punk favorites Meet Me @ The Altar. People might think I’m glazing and being hyperbolic, but this is going to be one for the history books. I’m so crushed that I won’t be catching this tour. Then again, I’m just happy that this is happening at all, but I will happily live vicariously through any clips that might be posted.

Before I continue spiraling through all of this FOMO, we do have to talk a bit about Proceed With Caution, The Paradox’s latest EP. It’s wild to think that it’s been a year since their previous LP, NSFW, dropped. Not to rest on their laurels, the Atlanta-based act proves that the early success wasn’t going to deter them on this new collection. “Living Hell” is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs on the new EP. For starters, you get some great dual vocals from guitarists Eric Dangerfield and Christopher “Xelan” Bernard, plus Donald Bryant’s bass and Percy “PC3” Crews III’s drumming make up one of the most exciting rhythm sections doing it right now. We also get some great shout-along vocals in the final chorus that will undoubtedly go stupid at these upcoming shows…that I will not be attending. My bad, y’all…I’m working through it. At the end of the day, I’m so incredibly happy for these guys. Trust me when I say that these tears are mostly those of pride…and about 10% sadness.

Check out more from The Paradox including the new EP, Proceed With Caution here.