THE GAP YEAR RIOT - These Streets Never Sleep CD-EP

A Glasgow band who manage to put a whole new shine on the face of pop-punk and emo, turning them into something of quality and perfection. The opening track is “Win Win” and it's got a chorus that lifts you higher than Everest, with a singer who's got the most emotively nasally vocal of equal distinction and absolute pleasure. He delivers the song with a solid, lightweight intensity that has you transfixed as the whole thing takes off amid the crunch of drums, the bass undercurrent, the counterpoint and wondrously used chunky piano chords, all set amid an ocean of ringing, chiming and riveting guitar leads, riffs and rhythms. But, beyond the choppy, lurching and directly propulsive arrangements, which aren't afraid to twist and turn, the singer tops it all off with a glorious vocal where depth, emotion, passion and harmony are the most welcome of bedfellows as this utterly gorgeous blast of pop-punk strikes you like not other before it, on what is a song that should be an anthem hailed from every rooftop from Land's End to John O' Groats – and that's just track one!! “3+3starts with a cascading ringing guitar, as the choppy beats and crunchy piano chords add to the effect on a song that, once more, takes off courtesy of another fantastic vocal performance and such heartfelt delivery of power and passion, that you simply can't help be spellbound by the whole thing. Slightly more urgent than the previous one, it nevertheless takes off with every bit of potency, as another stunning chorus shines brighter than the sun and lifts you up even higher. It's majestic, it's anguished, it's sizzling, it's delicate, it's anthemic and it's stronger than steel – it's everything and it's another absolute gem of a song. “Put Down The Knives” starts with an even more searing heat lead guitar before a rollercoaster of guitar riffs, chugging rhythms, crunchy drums and deep bass, all herald an even more passionate vocal anguish that takes off into a rocket plume of chorus and hook as the verses chug along at speed, the upper register guitar chimes out, the piano continues to sound like he's playing it with lead-lined gloves and the rhythm section storms its way through, all the time a vast, expansive production and arrangement, the band's writing sense of dynamics and the overall quality of the writing and arranging, all mean that another storm-force gem of an anthem is in progress. Finally, there's “Always Am”, which embodies all the above in one flowing track which veers from piano-led wonderment to guitar-led density as the rhythm section drives it all forward and a more complex structure comes into play, the counterpoint of the sizzling guitar and hard piano, matched by the impassioned vocals, the song's arrangement and the band's innate sense of how to write a classic song – of which four of the very same are present here, waiting for you to bring them to life.

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