Pop punk is often misconstrued as being an easy genre to nail, but that’s not the case. Having melody and a handful of decent choruses is all well and good, but what a lot of bands seem to neglect is any sort of noticeable edge to differentiate themselves from the ever-growing crowd. Fortunately, Nottingham’s Catch Fire seem to have found their angle on new EP ‘The Distance I Am From You’.

It’s their combination of a meatier, slightly heavier take on the genre and the employment of frontman Miles Kent’s natural British accent, a refreshing change from the over-egged Americanisms that have grated for far too long. A couple of mercifully brief but ill-advised double-time sections prevent this EP from being the A Day To Remember-lite effort this could’ve potentially been, but there’s no doubting that ‘Introspective Pt. 1’ brim with exuberance.

In terms of overall quality, it really doesn’t dip that much. ‘Bad Behaviour’ is the sort of pop punk jam that UK bands have become more than au fait with in the past couple of years, while ‘Introspective Pt. 2’, which initially may come across as little more than a tacked-on, token acoustic track, is actually a sweet little number which acts as an ideal showcase of this band’s versatility.

Even though it doesn’t stray too far away from the tradition pop punk pack, there’s enough to ‘The Distance I Am From You’ to prove that Catch Fire are at the very least trying to do something a bit different. The pop punk scene, especially the UK one, can be a tough market to crack these days, but even if this EP allows them to poke their heads just that tiniest bit above the surface, it’ll be a victory.

3.5/5

‘The Distance I Am From You’ EP by Catch Fire is released on 5th February on Rude Records

Catch Fire links: Facebook|Twitter

Words by Luke Nuttall(@nuttall_luke)