In the giant pool of US styled punk rock, NOFX, Green Day and Lagwagon could collectively sue the Billabong pants off every pogoing punk-pop band on moderate rotation on MTV2. The reason why theseveterans don’t is out of pure courtesy. As long as you’ve got a guitar and chords, you’reat least working towards it.
Bournemouth three-piece getAmped paddle firmly in this pool. They pridethemselves on their DIY ethic. This album was entirely self-funded,self-produced and released via their own label RNT. I admit that deservestaking off my discoloured Volcom cap. But does producing the backing musicfor Fame Academy earn such respect from us?
“I don’t give a fuck about celebrity, about the models and the moviescreens” Tim Parkhouse sneers on Celebrity. NOFX bassist/vocalist Fat Mike should call hislawyers now. But what separates getAmped from the rest, apparently, is the”trans-genre post-hardcore surf-emo” they conjure up. “Think of a grown-up’sBlink 182 with undertones of The Police and Jimmy EatWorld“. Or even better: “The best rock trio since the Police”. Hardly. All fromthe horse’s mouth, I assure you.
If they’re not ripping NOFX, everything goes all Linkin Park - notably in second track In the Dark. The samples, the brewing guitars, sing-along crescendo follow theblueprint to a T.
New single Too Far reeks of tried-and-tested emo so much that you smellthe moist tears off their Rip Curl-sponsored shirts. It’s more juvenile thanFeltham Young Offenders.
The only ounce of variation appears on Alive, which welds anthemic punkwith drum n’ bass while Parkhouse gives an anti-capitalist rant. LeonTrotsky he ain’t.
Which is where I park my tongue and return to the golden rule ofreviewing which says judge things on what they are, not what they aren’t. Orsomething like that. Ho! Let’s back up a moment. I’ve just spent the lastsix paragraphs saying exactly what it is. So what isn’t Phoney Society? 1. Original. 2. Varied. 3. Worth your money. To name but a few.
But before an army of skaters come throwing their Element decks at me,ask yourself this. If those ‘sell outs’ Green Day can innovate progressively,why can getAmped and the rest of the pool, dribble out the tripe they doand claim to be different? If you take out the ‘society’ in the title, thenI’d say it was a fitting one. I won’t finish with anything eloquent. InsteadI’ll keep it blunt and simple: what a load of rubbish.
getAmped MP3s or CDs
getAmped on Spotify
