When I heard members of Over It and Rufio had got together to form a new band, I was half-expecting one of the quickest, most technical pop-punk bands the world had ever seen. I loved both bands, Over It more than Rufio, and I still think ‘Timing Is Everything’ is one of the best pop-punk records ever written, such an underestimated album and a band that despite signing to a major, just didn’t get the breaks they deserve. I can kind of understand why the band put that project to one side and started another.
I just didn’t quite expect it to sound like this…
Make no mistake, this is a pop album. The only thing this band have in common with Over It is the same vocalist, otherwise the two bands are miles apart. The songs are very poppy, very melodic, hugely over-produced and slick and drenched in synths and other instrumentation. Now I like my pop-punk to be sweet, but this is a bit too sugary, even for me. Weirdly my promo from EMI kicks off with an instrumental version of ‘So Obvious’. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be the way it starts or not, if it is then it’s not the best way to kick things off.
There are some good tunes here, don’t get me wrong. ‘Hate The Way’ is a really good pop song destined for mainstream radio and the quicker songs are easily the best ones. ‘She’s My Kinda Girl’ is a bit Simple Plan-esque and there’s way too much synth in it for my liking, but it’s really, really catchy. Sadly there’s a lot here that’s just a bit…’meh’. ‘Hey Alli’ is just boring, ‘Papercuts’ never really seems to get going and ‘Life After You’ just needs a real kick up the arse. I loved Over It for their urgency and their passion, Runner Runner just seem to have sucked all of that out of themselves.
Younger fans will undoubtedly love this and I think the band have written a good pop record. If you like that kind of thing. I don’t think the Punktastic audience will love it, but then I don’t really think we’re supposed to…