I’m no punk elitist, but Germanys ‘No Mayers 50′ have come as quite a culture shock to me. I haven’t heard such a blatant, obvious, slap round your face pop punk band in a long, long time. From start to finish, the quartet rely solely on clichéd songs, chunky pop guitar riffs and uninspiring idea’s which results in a rather drab 43 minutes of music. Infact the only positive thing I can really say about the band is that they are quite good at what they do, and if you want a sugary sweet soulless pop tripe then go straight ahead and buy it, you won’t be the slightest disappointed.
From the moment an old school recorded film clip comes in (Think the beginning of ‘The War on Errorism’ by NOFX) it all goes down hill. With most tracks simply melding into one gluttonous pile of unusable shite, it is difficult really to completely appreciate the sheer amount of time that has gone into the production of ‘Hopeless Romantic’. Everything is so shiny and spit clean here it is ever so slightly vomit inducing. Of the tracks on show, there are only a couple that really do anything to ignite the album to life with ‘Let me Know’ showing a slightly more melodic side amongst the pro tools while ‘Girlfriend’ also proves a minor highlight but still proves lacklustre in all the departments that matter.
The actual highlight of the LP is the very end. No, that isn’t another battering to our German friends, but the covers they perform on the secret track tacked on actually prove the saving grace for the boys. Covers of ‘Time of my Life’, ‘It Must have been Love’ and ‘Final Countdown’ are all hugely impressive and without some of the gloss from the early ten efforts show what they can actually achieve given a chance. Unfortunately though it is too little too late and does nothing to redeem for earlier misdemeanours. While ‘No Mayers 50′ may enjoy what they do and have a dedicated fanbase, with such drab and uninspiring recordings they may struggle to add anymore to the current crop and pierce many other markets other than the bargain bin section of your local record shop.
Jay
www.nomayers50.de