Now, then! THE CALLBACK ACADEMY, hailing from Brighton, have officially arrived with their debut EP ‘Smarter Than Your Average Bear’ – it’s great.
Short of having a terrible title, the EP is actually rather promising – the band have roots firmly based in US Pop Punk, but that’s not to say they’re an identikit outfit, as there’s plenty of elements of UK rock in here, and you can here bit of bands like Twin Atlantic creeping in at points.
For a debut EP, it’s crammed with potential, and the band have certainly proved that they’re worth keeping an eye on in 2012 – the dynamic range of the band is great, and ‘Something For Someone’ manages to draw in elements of bands like Francesqa and Futures without laying the cheese on too hard.
If The Callback Academy focus on honing their own sound, there’s no reason we won’t be hearing a lot more from them, and ‘Smarter Than Your Average Bear’ is something everyone who writes off UK Pop Punk should listen through at least once before making up their mind.
TOM AYLOTT