May Contain Nuts - Land Ho! [EP]

SYWP Records

July 7, 2008, 12:03 PM

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Since when did it become unacceptable for music to be fun? We all seem to be taking things a bit too seriously these days and there’s no Blink 182 or (decent) Less Than Jake to put a smile back on the banner of pop punk. Thankfully in the shape of Cardiff based 4-piece May Contain Nuts, this may not be a problem anymore.

Sounding like a cross between The Clash, The Pogues and Capdown, May Contain Nuts are one of those bands it’s hard not to like, short, catchy punk tracks with a drunken sing a long quality that would make a reformed alcoholic reminisce about the good times. Fast paced opener ‘One By One’ is a jaunty Flogging Molly-esque number with a great chorus and a kicking drum-beat that will have you tapping your foot approvingly throughout. Curiously named front man The Good Reverend has a wry wit to his lyrics that require a British ear to truly appreciate, not to say that you couldn’t appreciate them if you aren’t but it does help when it comes to a track like closer ‘Last Orders’.

After hearing ‘Land Ho!’ In it’s entirety I can’t help but worry slightly when thinking of fellow people’s punk band Vanilla Pod. If tracks like the awesomely fun ‘March Left’ and the highly pogo-able ‘All One Riff’ were written by a band with more of an emphasis on image over content like +44 or The Academy Is… then they would be instant summer favourites. Unfortunately as Vanilla Pod have shown throughout their 13 year career as one of the best unsung bands of the British scene, it’s unlikely for a colloquial English group to infiltrate this greater market. It is terrible because at the end of the day it simply comes down to the poster boy complex that most so called music fans seem to have. What happened to people finding out the best new bands for themselves instead of taking on the role of the idiot general public that gets told what they like by Kerrang! The most DIY of all musical styles has become as manufactured as dance music and while I’ll stay with the ship until it’s sunk I hope that May Contain Nuts can be part of bringing back it’s true meaning. In short: buy this EP, it’s brilliant.

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