It's a proven fact that UK bands don't do the melodic pop-punk thing as well as the Yanks. Let's face it, you can count the number of good homegrown bands that play this kind of music on one hand - Fast Reaction, maybe Fastlane...and there are a few others bubbling under the surface. But when you compare this to those pesky Americans, what with their Boys Like Girls, Cartel, Valencia, All American Rejects and numerous other bands which base their sound on pop more than punk, there's just no comparison. The sad fact is that most UK pop-punk bands sound like Blink 182 in 1998. Except nowhere near as good.
That said there are a new crop of bands, like Fleeing From Finales and Over and Out, that affectively write spiky pop songs with a smattering of punk energy. And while both are a far cry from the likes of million sellers Fall Out Boy, they're certainly starting to make their mark. FFF are quite well known on the PT forums and on the basis of this EP there's a good chance they'll make their mark on a wider scale. But, and you knew there was going to be one, they're still a million miles away from their aforementioned Yankee peers.
Everything here suggests FFF are American - the whiney sneer in the vocals, the clean sheen of the production and the wistful tales of lost love - yet they actually reside in South East England. And while there's nothing wrong with that, and they are a young band finding their feet, when you compare this lot to their peers there's ultimately no comparison. 'Mighty Ducks v Thundercats' and 'Bring A Trident, That'll Learn Them' are both excellent songs for what they are - perky pop-rock songs that beg for gang vocal singalongs. It's a trait the band have copied from other bands and they've made it sound like their own. There's hand claps and solid harmonies and in the main it's a very good attempt at replicating a tired genre which isn't always done well. That said, 'An Emotional Summer of Cricket' was brilliant on the demo, but seems to be lacking a little something here.
This is a good first effort - it's solid and ticks all the boxes for your typical pop-punk record. Of course there's work to be done - there always is for a young band - but there's enough on show here to suggest the band have a bright future. Finding their own slant, trying to mix things up a bit, will stand them in better stead if they want to really make a name for themselves - on either side of the pond.
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