Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up 'Til It Was Light

Johnny Foreigner are loud. Very fucking loud. The Birmingham-based trio's inaugural long-player Waited Up 'Til It Was Light ignites into stratospheric decibels the moment Lea Room’s burning riff scythes open the airwaves, and these deafening levels rarely relent until Absolute Balance screeches to a shuddering halt. Y’see, this is a band that revels in creating discordant slabs of virulent, youth-fed punk-pop, sparkling with the kind of ebullient hyperactivity spurted out by fellow tweecore glee-merchants Los Campesinos! – only with a shitload more bite. Tracks like Cranes And Cranes... and the ADD-fuelled Sometimes, In The Bullring catapult from the speakers with all the hurtling velocity of a moon-bound rollercoaster; each escalating as dissipating swabs of metallic thrash before landing, in euphoria, on luscious melody-strewn pastures that purr with energy. Awash with striding, bubblegum-blowing cuts, this is an exhilarating and triumphant debut – but oldies best remember to don those earplugs.