Even without listening to a single note of music, there’s already quite a bit to suggest that Texas’ Waterparks will be a big deal. Not only can they count Good Charlotte’s Madden brothers as fans (so much so that Benji Madden co-produced this EP), but they’ve also enlisted the talents of former My Chemical Romance man Mikey Way to take up bass duties on ‘Cluster’.

But greatness looks even more obvious when taking into account the actual music. ‘Cluster’ is five tracks of almost perfect pop rock, a melting pot of everyone from Panic! At The Disco to Saves The Day with dashes of Fall Out Boy and even The Used for good measure. It’s one of the most chipper listens you’ll hear so far this year, but one of the most inescapably fun too.

‘Territory’ bounces by with the kind of carefree exuberance that Warped Tour is based on, while ‘Pink’ and ‘Crave’ add in smatterings of Walk The Moon-style synth whizzes that toe the line between grating and joyously quirky perfectly.

There’s no doubt that this isn’t an EP for Emmure fans, but Waterparks’ knack for writing a fantastic pop song and sheer love of life is something that can’t go by without commendation. ‘Cluster’ probably won’t be that elusive release that brings metalheads to the lighter end of the alternative spectrum, but regardless it’s enough to prove that Waterparks are one of the best new pop rock bands around.

4.5/5

‘Cluster’ by Waterparks is released on 15th January on Equal Vision Records

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Words by Luke Nuttall(@nuttall_luke)