It may just be me, but I swear Pickled Dick get better with very passing release. Infact I’d go as far as saying they’re one of the best pop-punk bands in the UK right now. PD, despite having one of the worst band names around, manage to make every single song as memorable as any chart hits, soaking their tracks in melody with the best backing vocals and harmonies of any band in this country. They just have this incredible knack to leave you humming songs for hours on end – the perfect compliment I could ever give a pop-punk band.
From the first few notes of ‘Extra-Terrestrial’, through to the closing, and quite frankly brilliant, ‘B-Side U’, this is nothing short of superb. Pickled Dick have always impressed me for writing singalongs of the highest order, yet this seems to crank things up a notch. The vocal harmonies are honestly among the best I’ve heard from a UK band, adding so much extra to the sound and creating a real warm and catchy edge which makes each song stick out. The traditional Pickled Dick humour remains, with songs about aliens and the fact the band thinks they’ve missed out on a place in the big time, so don’t fret if you like the band of old.
If you’re a UK pop-punk band look to Pickled Dick to show you how to do this genre of music perfectly without even having to sound remotely American. Genius stuff.