First of all I have to smile at the title of New Generation Superstars latest E.P, putting an amusing twist on the title of Dale Carnegie’s book and also Terrorvison’s album, How to Make Friends and Influence People. To make it more ironic this offering should make NGS a few friends and it certainly might influence a few people too! The title track of the same name quickly gets to the point and using dirty punky guitars and drums that pound down like a baseball bat on your cranium, this is powerful and snotty punk rock ‘n’ roll with a very catchy edge. The bass provides a consistent deep growl giving the guitars and vocals a chance to experiment with their patterns and melodies. Lead vocalist AJ has a voice that suits this music down to the ground as he mixes a very British grunt (not to dissimilar at times to the afore mentioned Terrorvison) with big 70’s glam rock chants and shout outs, giving this first song a really infectious feel. The second track ‘Always Gonna Be’ bases itself in a similar mould. It is fast, catchy, dirty punk with big hooks lines and deep pounding drums and bass. Once more all the elements of classic glam, punk and rock ‘n’ roll are here and there is once more a nice mix of catchy American rock ‘n’ roll and traditional British gutsy punk. This second track is really great lyrically and is all about having fun and enjoying life. With the bass and drums keeping it simple but driving the song well, the vocals take centre stage and with a cool guitar solo towards the end it is certainly a very strong song. ‘Star’ again kicks in with the same sort of formula but why change a winning format. This song is fairly short but with a great hook again and the stamping drums booming down, it builds quickly before exploding at the end. Finally this E.P ends on a cover of Kiss’s ‘Do You Love Me’. This is played really well and is a very tight and good cover, with their own style thrown in and AJ’s growling vocals really suiting the song, the guitars seem to deal with the riffs and solo easily and it is a great end to the E.P. On this showing New Generation Superstars have a really great sound which mixes influences from the punk scene, rock ‘n’ roll, thrash and glam to produce songs that are powerful, fast, to the point and yet full of fun. In a punk industry where so many bands seem to be sounding more and more like the pop punk of Blink 182 and Busted, New Generation Superstars are not only keeping a true rock attitude but also keeping a good British edge to their punk, Thank God.
Review by Gaz
