With Confidence, Love And Loathing - album review

Line-up changes and fallouts have added to accusations and legal issues which have seen the band alter somewhat over their two records.

This, their second effort, betrays little of those problems in its generally hopeful feel which shows a professionalism and ability to keep strife and trouble out of the material.

This year has seen their return to touring after a self-imposed hiatus and now this has dropped on British shores following a respectable chart showing Down Under for their 2016 debut.

It's light and airy alternative rock to the extreme. You know the kind. The sort of saccharine sweet musings that litter the soundtracks of coming-of-age movies and teen dramas everywhere - particularly those scenes where the protagonist feels hard done by in their search for love.

It's not all meant to be a criticism. It's a certain style that some love and some do not.

For those that do, this is a perfectly polished record full of harmonies to sing along to in the shower and a mixture of acoustic and heavier tracks that evoke feelings of rebellion without fully pushing you to carry out violent acts.

There's a lot of love within the lyrics. Pâquerette (Without Me) is an acoustic number full of high pitched vocal harmonies over the pained strains of an acoustic. It's got a decent rhythm behind it too, these guys know what they are doing.

Icarus takes us into Sum 41 territory. Screeched choruses over scratched guitars that somehow finely balance a sense of anger with a tempo you can bounce/dance around to easily in a safe manner.

Moving Boxes is one of the stronger tracks on the album. They list one of their main influences as Blink 182 and you can see why on tracks like this. While they lack the grit and aggression their heroes' brand of punk pop threw out, there is something catchy within the choruses here like Blink perfected.

If you like this fluffy approach to the punk genre then you'll love the sharp production values and stick-in-the-mind choruses. Those who like their loud music, well, louder, should probably steer clear.

Rating: 6/10

With Confidence stop off at Birmingham's Mama Roux's as part of their UK tour on September 26