Look at the combination of where Columbus are from plus the label they’re signed to and a clear picture forms of what they might sound like. Seeing as they hail from Australia and are signed to UNFD, it would be logical to assume that they’re another breakdown-happy metalcore band.

Thankfully, ‘Spring Forever’ is the most pleasant of surprises. Columbus actually sound more in line with bands like Polar Bear Club, co-opting that very American style of punk while injecting in a bit of emo pathos. The result is an album that’s as rousing and emotionally charged as it is infectious, a more piss-and-vinegar take on the traditional pop-punk formula that’s an undeniably fantastic listen.

Tracks like ‘Daffodil’ and ‘Broken Glass’ typify what make this album great, namely guitars with a bit more gristle, hugely raw vocals and a real surging feel that a lot of pop-punk bands seem to have abandoned. It’s not an album short on emotion either – ‘Stay’ has an intensity akin to early-2000s post-hardcore bands, while ‘Nervous Wreck’ sits at the complete other end of the spectrum, a softly-sung acoustic number that retains all the emotional payoff that is in this album’s most powerful moments, and ‘Absent’ could easily be a Wonder Years song, both in sound and quality.

‘Spring Forever’ really stands as a curveball of an album, not just for their sound but the fact that Columbus as a band are still virtually unknown, yet have come roaring out of the traps with an album as outstanding as this. Definitely a band to pay attention to.

4/5

‘Spring Forever’ by Columbus is released on 26th August on UNFD.

Columbus links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp

Words by Luke Nuttall (@nuttall_luke)