Sucioperro – The Heart Strings & How to Pull Them

Ayrshire’s Sucioperro have released their latest on Xtra Mile Recordings, home of Reuben and Far, which is probably fortunate as it leaves the same bittersweet pop-core taste in the mouth as Jimmy Eat World did at their peak. This isn’t quite a criticism, as like with both those bands there is genuine songwriting talent here. Take the undeniably infectious opener Running from All that Doesn’t Tempt You, which is a perfectly palatable piece of powerpop; it’s just that the whole thing seems so generic. Everything is so summery and shiny that it seems like it’s endeavouring to be the soundtrack to every Hollywood issue-of-the-week teen drama. And yet, it’s not utterly loathsome, it’s simply that to really appreciate it you need something suitably bleak to counteract its effects and thus avoid lapsing into a diabetic coma. Something like a bag of drowned kittens.