Shouldn’t it be ‘Start From Scratch’? Maybe it’s an American English thing. Anyway, Better Luck Next Time are a pop-punk band more in the vein of Simple Plan than New Found Glory and if you like that kind of music you will like this band very much indeed. They have huge singalong choruses, saccharine sweet vocal melodies, guitar solos and enough energy to make you jump up and down pogo style. That’s not to say this record is perfect, because it’s not, but if you’re after a fun summer record a few months early this should nicely do the trick.
There are some very good songs here and, for me, the band are at their best when they push the tempo forward a little bit. ‘Let It Go is a spritely little bastard with a cracking tempo, while ‘Days Like Today’ and ‘You’ll Be Mine Someday’ are choc-full of singalongs. Admittedly the subject matter is a little lowest-common-denominator and the use of keys, synth, layered vocals and lots of guitars makes this sound a little bigger than I imagine they will sound live, but for a commercial pop-punk release this is as good as I’ve heard in a while and I can imagine will kickstart the band’s US career.