Sum Of Nothing are three 17-year-olds from Gravsend who are very clearly influenced by the likes of Blink 182 and Green Day. They actually sound (unwittingly I think) like a cross between McFly and Whitmore, without any dodgy songs about girls called Alison. This mini-album is very polished and looks great, which leads me to think either the band get paid too much pocket money or they have a very keen parent pushing them. Either way, this is a very youthful and exuberant record which, while rough around the edges, showcases a band clearly having a lot of fun and more power to them for it.
‘Made Me Do It’ is quite a young-sounding record, fusing melodic pop-punk with a few ska riffs. There are some excellent vocal harmonies and a couple of the tracks have pretty strong choruses too. ‘Another Song’, for example, is really, really catchy. However, for each good song is an average one and no sooner do the band unleash one good song than ‘Turned Tables’ comes along which is no better than average. As youngsters they will clearly get better with age and as their own musical styles take hold the cliched Blink riffs will fade away, but it’s clear they have talent even if this record probably doesn’t do them justice. In two or three years time, if they keep working hard, Sum of Nothing could be an exciting prospect indeed.