As It Is are a pop-punk band (yes, another one) hailing from Brighton, England although judging by their sound and their penchant for John Hughes films they probably wish they had grown up in a suburban neighbourhood in America. ‘Blenheim Place’ is their new EP and follows up the early demos the band recorded after forming in May 2012 (Happy Birthday, by the way).

The EP opens with ‘Every Year Gets Better’, a pop-punk track that veers across the spectrum. There is a hint of The Story So Far in the pace and delivery of the lyrics of the song, but with a more refined style.

<a href=“http://asitisofficial.bandcamp.com/album/blenheim-place” data-mce-href=“http://asitisofficial.bandcamp.com/album/blenheim-place”>Blenheim Place by AS IT IS</a>

‘John Hughes’ is a song about the pains about growing up. Revelling in intertextual pop culture references is a common pop-punk trait and As It Is draw from a good original source material here. ‘Upswing’ has a Real Friends vibe with a killer hook and a great head-nodding chorus. Although it hardly reinvents the wheel, it rises above most of the generic pop punk out there. It is also refreshing to see a band from the UK tackle a sound that has been so dominated by US bands, and although it may not be totally authentic, I can still buy in to the songs.

Whilst there are throwaway pop-punk tracks on the album like ‘January’, songs like ‘Every Year Gets Better’ shows that As It Is have depth to their song writing abilities. The experimentation with key changes and tempo shifts marks them apart from the majority of pop punk bands out there.

The glossy melodies of ‘Every Year Gets Better’ remind the listener of Hostage Calm; the pop culture adoration of ‘John Hughes’ bring to mind the referencing of The Wonder Years. It is good company that As It Is find themselves and their songs in and with these strong comparisons they create an EP that is sure to turn a few heads. ‘Blenheim Place’ is a pop punk album that is out of the ordinary in all the best ways; As It Is do not have an identikit sound and this is refreshing enough to lend them your ear for twenty minutes but watch out if you do as you may get hooked on this intriguing pop punk EP. For a band that is only a year old, I’m sure the best is still to come.

3.5/5

‘Blenheim Place’ by As It Is is available now.

As It Is links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp

Words by Tom White.