SPOTLIGHT: Cereal Box Heroes - Frier

Back around September I bullied my way onto a gig line-up because I really wanted to play a show with the headliner and also DropThis were playing and Triple Sundae two awful(ly good) bands with friends in the line-up. The other band on this bill were Cereal Box Heroes (a name I got wrong a few times on the night) and as far as I know it was their first show. Well to say they knocked that shit out the park is an understatement. These three dudes who by my old man standards couldn't have been older than 8 just smashed their way through the most incredible 90s power pop punk revivalist set and instantly won the hearts of a nation. If they had just been a great band they would have still won the night but on top of that it turned out they were bloody stellar blokes too the nail in the super awesome leagues coffin right there. Shortly(ish) after they managed to put out their first EP Frier. and that is what we're here to discuss.

Get past a  gaudy cover makes a bit of a mess of the band name and you'll find that Frier feels both perfectly comfortable around all your 90s Lagwagon, Blink and Diesel Boy albums and utterly fresh and new. A little track full of fart sounds and sets the scene and if you're put off by this then fair enough, you have obviously come to the wrong place, you'll find your humourless boring person shit somewhere else. The thing that will hit you from the get go is that this doesn't just sound like a 90 punk album, it sounds like one. The production is incredible for something that is a first ever effort and a lot of care has gone into perfect capturing the era in the master.

"Forget It" is the first "proper" track on the album and it's a revelation, fast and fun with all the right breakdowns and those stops which are synonymous with the style. The second double time verse shows that these guys are fully capable of keeping up with all their idols and anything else that I  would rank highly today.
"Homewreck" is blisteringly fast and awesome fun to listen to. It just makes me smile. There's no other way to put it. This track introduces to the fact that we have two lead singers in Conor and Dom. Who's my favourite you ask? That would be telling but the difference, whilst being obvious is as glaring or uneven as Blink was and you probably wont find yourself with one voice you hugely prefer. THe breakdowns found in this track could almost be thought of as derivative, but they are played so well and with such feeling that they quite right show off a loving homage to late 90s/2K pop punk instead.
"Mudface" is the last track on the EP and again the stage is set for a trip down memory lane. These retro punk vibes never overshadow the groups talent however and this in particular would be way beyond your average vocalist in terms of complexity in the verses. The choruses then reset us back into familiar sing-along territory, something these guys understand is necessary part of writing a fun album and something they work extremely well in delivering.

The comparisons to the past, especially to Dude Ranch are ever present in this EP and in the band as a whole, but rather than clinging to an ideal or a desperate emulation of better things these guys have created something born of the same basic foundation and can now proudly rest it up against all the albums of my own teenage years. If you can't tell from all this these few tracks are really something special and if Cereal Box Heroes aren't already on your radar then make sure they are now or miss out.

https://cerealboxheroes.bandcamp.com/album/frier