There’s no doubt Echo Screen have plenty of potential, it’s just a shame ‘Euphoria’ doesn’t quite consistently hit all the right notes. When the band are going off on songs like ‘Rushmore’ – all three-part harmonies and bouncy Race The Sun-esque guitars – they’re on top of their game. Sadly, too many songs here tend to drift along or sound a little too much like Simple Plan to have a lasting impact. And while I love this type of music as much as anyone else, ultimately I’m left thinking this record isn’t quite up to the standards of a Valencia or Hit The Lights.
The band’s debut full-length album, it’s definitely one for fans of Drive Thru Records golden era to check out. As poppy as good pop-punk records should be, ‘This Letter Bomb’ and ‘The Five Cent Tour of the Pearly Gates Part I; Our Hopes’ are great bouncy anthems. But for every good song there’s another that doesn’t really stand out too much. ‘Everything After Bradford’ is a little too pop-punk by numbers, while the obligaory closing epic ‘Submitted For The Approval Of The Midnight Society’ is just cheesy and predictable, as if Simple Plan had discarded a track on the cutting room floor and it was picked up by Echo Screen. If the best tracks were cut to a six track EP you could add a star – but truth be told there are better albums already out there and Echo Screen need consistency if they’re to break through.