Kicking off a night of feel good pop punk were Bowling for Soup protégés The Leftovers.

The Oregon band were signed to BFS front-man Jaret Reddick’s Crappy Records label recently, and their new release Eager to Please was out last month. Influenced by fifties rock and roll and surf pop, they reminded me of the crooning band from the first Back to the Future movie for some reason.

Brought up to date with power pop hooks plus a spot of pogo-ing from the band. With a nod to the likes of The Ramones, Beach Boys and Elvis Costello, their sickly sweet vocal and repetitive sound was fun and inoffensive. But it made me think I much preferred contemporaries such as Sugarcult and The Donnas who are already doing this kind of style but with a bit more bite. While they might be eager to please, I’m not so sure if I’m eager to hear again.

The same certainly cannot be said for the next two bands however. First of which was ‘post-punk laptop’ rapper MC Lars and second OC bad asses Zebrahead – more on them later. I never got to take in the proper MC Lars experience the first time round when I saw him play at Southampton Joiners some years ago.

And this was only because I was there to interview the headliner and then band of the moment Test Icicles. But, in retrospect I am glad in a way, as his live show was truly meant for a bigger stage such as this! Straight outta’ Stanford (University), MC Lars is the thinking person’s rapper; who combines literary references with witty cultural insight. From sampling Iggy Pop’s The Passenger whilst denouncing record companies on Download this Song to poking fun at Scientology on Scientology = WTF? and pretentious girls on Hipster Girl; he’s a quirky and ingenious mix of Ugly Duckling cheekiness and culturally observance a la Hadouken! – minus the ferocity, yet it still takes a nod to the old school likes of De La Soul, Beastie Boys and Run DMC.

Fusing rock, punk, hip hop, comedy and some rather nerdy knob twiddling; MC Lars plus his laptop provide a snapshot of what is very much now! And it’s awesome! Using a backdrop of hyperactive visuals that worked as a driving narrative in the show, I was left almost a bit over stimulated, as it was difficult for me to take in the vibrant visuals, clever lyrics and catchy hooks all at once, I just couldn’t keep up! Nonetheless I went away with the smile and a desire to know more.

Funk punkers Zebrahead didn’t drop the ball either as they took to the stage with their insane energy, hard rocking attitude and some hard drinking - I caught one of the boys downing JD in between songs! Rock and Roll! Combining SoCali melodic pop punk of the highest order with their trademark quirky hip hop style; Zebrahead grabbed everyone in the room! The Orange County Boys, who released their Panty Raid covers album this year, chucked in catchy old favourites such as Playmate of the Year and Hello Tomorrow, as well as their anthem Hell Yeah. The boys also treated us to an entertaining version of Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend, which is taken from the new album. Other covers on Panty Raid are from female artists including Britney, J Lo and Amy Winehouse! A drag look-a-like of Avril (and I use the term loosely) who was actually a robust man in a tiny corset and skirt, later joined the boys to gyrate against them and flash his butt. Nice.

Rounding off the evening were Bowling for Soup, the Texas band I remember from a few years back for their piss take video for Girls All Bad Guys Want. Turns out that these boys actually never went away though! Eight albums later, they remain at the top of the class! I may have just out-grown them a little; which is actually a little sad as I am actually only 25. The four piece brought a smile to my face with their brand of catchy feel good pop punk which touched mostly on girls, high school and juvenile humour with tracks like 1985, I’m Gay and High School Never Ends. Filling the gap between New Found Glory and Blink 182 for a younger generation, they were everything they were meant to be, whether I was too old for it or not. This good time band delivered and rounded off a night of wholesome pop punk goodness and class clown antics.

5/ 5

www.theleftoversband.com

www.mclars.com

www.zebrahead.tv

www. bowlingforsoup .com

Special thanks to Emma at Watson at Fifteen Three PR