A predictable but top-quality Pop Punk record.

AOR had its heyday in the eighties and the genre lasted a whole ten years in the US before winds of change and boredom ushered in the era of Grunge. However, Pop Punk seems to have timeless appeal; originating in the late seventies with bands like Bad Religion and peaking in the mid/late nineties to the mid-noughties with bands like Green Day and Blink 182 leading the way, in its various forms and incarnations, the genre is still going strong today. Labels amazingly are still signing bands playing this style of music and only a fool would deny that Green Day and Blink 182 are amongst the biggest bands in the world. It's time to add World War Me to the ever-burgeoning list of Pop Punksters.

Offering a blend of the best elements of Bowling For Soup – check out opener 'The Good Enough' – Falling In Reverse and just about any of the successful Pop Punk outfits to have existed in the last twenty years, including New Found Glory, early My Chemical Romance and Simple Plan, World War Me cleverly ape what has gone before. John Feldmann's production adds consummate weight to the proceedings and it lifts songs like the genre staples of 'Ache For Agony' and 'Escape' to well above average. That is the true strength of World War Me; they take all the good traits of the genre, throw away the dross and without really turning it into anything new, they produce a predictable but top-quality Pop Punk record.

Mike Newdeck