In the PT news today: Blink 182 to play European festivals this summer. On the PT reviewing slate: more Blink 182 inspired pop-punk. Okay, Stay Away From Paris may well cite New Found Glory and Motion City Soundtrack as influences but there’s no doubt the band, like so many others that have landed in this reviewer’s pile this year, grew up on Blink. It’s right there in the pop-punk sound. Unfortunately, like so many others this year, there’s also very little to single the band out.
‘There She Blows’, as it stands, is decent enough fare. It’s jovial, bob-along pop-punk that’s about as inoffensive as it comes. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make ‘happy’ music, nothing at all, and that’s essentially what Stay Away From Paris achieves. Five tracks of unadulterated pop-punk. At times the songs seem one or two beats too slow, and the vocals are not 100% convincing but ultimately that doesn’t really hinder the record as a whole.
The problem is that if you sit this record alongside a myriad of other releases this year it’d be difficult to differentiate this Walthon-on-Thames quartet. As a band Stay Away From Paris plumps itself comfortably next to the likes of Members of Me, Last Letter Read and Shoot the Writers. The trick is to stand out from the crowd (the UK band to do this best in the pop-punk scene this year has to be Not Advised). Still, for a first effort, the band can be happy with this release. Definitely one for those that really like the scene.
Alex