Canadian pop punks Seaway release their debut album, ‘Hoser’, this month on Mutant League Records, and it’s very much a dark horse contender for pop punk album of the year. Huge pop hooks mix with a quick pace, and vocals packed with character and warmth make it an essential listen.
Opening tracks, ‘Expectation’ and ‘What’s Really Good’, are a great introduction to the band. They start quickly and maintain a good tempo, but never over complicate, leading with some excellent riffs, punchy drums and matter-of-fact song structures. Pop punk should be simple at heart and Seaway show a good head for that here. You’ve then got the ridiculously fun ‘Keep Your Stick On The Love’, which is the type of track you can imagine whipping up a small town crowd or sitting equally at home on a larger festival stage. Tracks such as ‘No Direction’ and ‘Puddles’ are full of youthful exuberance too. They’re underpinned by well-crafted vocal melodies and the right amount of grit and edge in the delivery across the album, and it’s a great listen because of it.
In truth you do hear a lot of The Wonder Years in ‘Hoser’ – and that’s not particularly surprising. Debut albums are always likely to draw heavily on successful bands of the time and this is no different. Technically we aren’t hearing anything too original or new here, but it’s done with great character and that keeps the band sounding fresh and entertaining.
Great pop-punk albums need a touch of imperfection, namely that raw energy that you get when a band are playing live. ‘Hoser’ has this in abundance and it’s that element – missing in many of the over produced pop-punk efforts this year – that make Seaway so appealing.
TOM BECK