Essex based five piece BURN SO BRIGHT have pretty much mastered the straight-up and non-threatening, albeit geographically confused pop punk sound with the release of this five track EP ‘Sparks’.
This release is an unfortunately standard affair in that it’s possible to dissect the songs in to common pop punk cliche’s used by so many of our American cousins; for example most of the five tracks start with a chugging palm mute melody, they’ve nearly all got an upbeat-clap-your-hands-crowd-go’s-wild bit, some vocal Patrick Stump-isms, hell there’s even some double-kick-gang-vocal-A-Day-to-Remember-running-man stuff going on.
Objections aside, ‘Sparks’ is not terrible; there are loads of great hooks and some great vocal harmonies bought together with some top-notch production. If inoffensive pop is your bag then it’s totally enjoyable, however in a genre so saturated with cookie cutter clones, especially ones with a faux-American twang, this is an easily forgettable release.
KYLE BUNKIN