Pop-punk has undergone something of a renaissance of late. Bands like The Story So Far, The Wonder Years and Man Overboard have brought the genre back to the forefront of attention by putting the stress on the “punk” side, and taking it out of its stale state. However, the aforementioned predominantly appeal to an older generation, and adolescents look more towards the “pop” side, the saccharine, sickly pop-rock that has seen this genre so maligned. Amy Can’t Flyy, egregious spelling and all, belong firmly in the latter category.
There are some vaguely saving graces of this record – the so-called “Fuzz” is a very competent drummer, and some of his fills and bouncy playing style are a plus point. The Bournemouth-based four-piece certainly know their way around a catchy chorus – the problem is, this same chorus is repeated over and over again, ad nauseam. Chunky riffs with the glossy sheen of over-production shimmer and sparkle, like a mirrorball in a furtively hormonal teenage after-school disco. Synths straight out of Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge’s regrettable side-project Angels And Airwaves pepper the songs, creating a nice little garnish for an already overly-polished turd.
The record starts with ‘You Can’t Stop Us Now’, a defiant bird-flipping anthem that sets the South Coasters and their fanbase “The Flyyers” (yup) against the world. Unfortunately, it’s with a whimper rather than a clarion call; a grumpy yowl of an elderly house cat rather than the proud roar of a lion. Second track ‘Mr Bones’ initially sounded like a tirade against Springfield’s most feared billionaire tyrant, but once that minor amusement is out the way, all that’s left is bland, vacant keyboard-driven soft-rock, with a painful orchestral outro. It’s an exasperating effort just to get through four tracks here – it’s all so lifeless and interchangeable.
Eponymous track of this release ‘The Start’ is probably the most interesting of a bad bunch; well, interesting if you like Good Charlotte at their droniest with guitars straight out of (U2 guitarist) The Edge’s least inspiring hooks.
It may be all very well to take cheap shots – it’s not necessarily the fault of these young men (if you’re interested, from the looks of the press shot, from left to right – 80’s TV character Pob, Alan Tracy from Thunderbirds, Placebo’s Brian Molko with a Skrillex haircut and Casper The Friendly Gorm) that they’re so immensely marketable. Young girls will lap this up just like they’ve lapped up All Time Low, The Maine and You Me At Six before them, and good for them – to a listener from an older standpoint, this is secondary school battle of the bands fodder that has been allowed to excel because teens are the only ones bothered enough to buy records now. A truly dreadful record, but one that is sure to do fantastically – just watch Amy Can Flyy, extraneous ‘y’ and all, plague your ears for the next few years.
1/5
‘The Start’ by Amyy Can Fly is released on 15th October through Horsepower.
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Words by Ollie Connors (@olliexcore)
