Koopa remind me of Whitmore crossed with Violent Delight. And for any regular reader of PT, you know exactly where this review is going…
Koopa‘s brand of slapstick pop-punk is clearly serving them well, a quick shufty at their myspace shows they’re playing decent sized venues, so fair play to them. They’ve clearly got management or decent label backing, so again fair play. But while the music could do the talking, I’ve taken an immediate dislike to them because of a few statements on their myspace page. Now why should that detract from the music, you may well ask? Well it shouldn’t – but the fact that Koopa play a pop-punk sound aimed at the kids (let’s face it, anyone over the age of 21 who freely listens to this needs a mental health check up) and then claim their sound isn’t contrived is, well, telling porkies.
For example. “Listen to Koopa and you realise that this is not that watered- down, manufactured punk designed to impress your younger brother, little sister and please your parents.”
This is absolute, complete bollocks. Tongue-in-cheek it may be, but ‘Pop Rock Factory’ tells the story about how conveyor belt pop songs are Koopa‘s speciality. Listen to this 5-track EP and you’ll rapidly become aware this is soulless, vapid, made-for-P-ROCK TV watered down gobshite that’s sadly come three years too late for a now extinct channel. To be fair, the band don’t claim to be anything but a bunch of crazy mohawk-sporting kids, flipping the bird on the back cover, but for me it’s so childishly put together, it’s aimed at no-one but those with a disposable income paid for by their parents.
I wish Koopa every success in doing what they do, but I just cannot take it seriously at all. The songs are nothing short of average; cheeky Essex chaps sing about girls, being dumped and how being a kid is ACE! And I’m sure it is. They’re the 2006 version of Violent Delight, possibly without the tunes. So, so many bands do this better. Go and check one of those out instead.