Rival Schools - 'Used For Glue' (Universal-Island)
4/5
By: Toby L
There comes a time in the UK when you can get slightly hesistant about the arrival of new rock acts from overseas if they've been been particularly hyped over.
The reason for this is that they're usually a part of a tag, a new movement, which our culture will soon adopt, allowing our own scene to fizzle out of people's consciousness for at least a year. However, if the emergence of new bands is to mirror the exciting debut release from New York's Rival Schools, then maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.
Whether the high precision accuracy of the stop-start guitar riff or crunching rhythm can be pulled off live isn't the point, but when you hear a tune like this appear on the radio, the effect it has upon you is an instant buzz of excitement, and a moment of intense listening. The big chorus is melodic, anthemic and memorable, the drums are punchy and the bass is growling. Punk on such a commercial scale has apparently never been so inviting.
If Rival Schools can match this quality for future releases, it's quite likely that Britain won't be so shy of taking on board new rock-gods.
Artists in this article: Rival Schools
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