Punchline are the nearly men of the pop-punk scene. They’re nearly your favourite band, they’ve nearly written an amazing album several times, they nearly made it bigger by flirting with Fueled By Ramen…it just seems as though the band have been so close to achieving something big, yet, for whatever reason, have missed out every single time. I get the impression the release of ‘Delightfully Pleased’ will change all this because it’s the best album the band have released so far. By some distance too. This has a swagger of a band comfortable in their own skin, realising that they’ve not managed the popularity of their peers, but who cares? Punchline are here to have fun, to sing along, and that’s exactly what this record does.
And boy it does it well. There are songs with massive choruses, songs with passion and feeling and the lyrics are among the best the band have written. There’s a feeling of overcoming adversity on opener ‘Seventy’ which sets the tone for the rest of the album – “you won’t find songs of hopelessness on this record,” the band sing as the drums batter away and the guitars soar. “I’ve seen friends become successful, then be our friend no more, one thing is for sure, i’m feeling good right now.”
The production on this record is immaculate; it’s clean yet punchy. The drums in particular hit hard throughout, playing very nicely off the vocal melodies. Standout tracks? There are plenty of them – ‘The Reinventor’, the riff that opens ‘Roller Coaster Smoke’, the 70s rock inspired opening to ‘The Smoke’ which is just genius…it kind of reminds me of Queen with the vocal harmonies at the start…there are so many really good moments on this record. It’s not perfect, as a couple of songs are a little slower and a little too considered, but when the band are on top form they write great little pop-rock songs that will have you singing along for days.
Punchline are back with a bang. This isn’t so much delightfully pleasing, as fucking brilliant.