There we were. me and Louise, popping out to the student’s union for a few cheap pints & a couple of vodka & tequila slush puppies when upon our arrival we’re greeted by a hoard of 14/15 year old pre-pubescent kids with died green hair, red baseball caps [back to front of course] and big oversized flappy T-shirts & shorts, even though it’s pissing it down outside. This meant one thing. There’s another bleedin pop-punk band playing. New Found Glory? Blink 182? As it happens, Goldfinger were playing and, more significantly to this review, Lightyear were supporting. So, on the strength of all the hype that’s been, erm… hyped about this band I purchase a CD. And I am in no way disappointed!!

With Lightyear it’s all about frantic, fast-paced ska-punk with as many horns & as many lyrics that can be spat forth with as much tunefulness as possible. Remember, there’s eight people in this band, but rather than a huge bouncy mess of too much drums, parping horns & strummy guitar everything kinda jumps together just fine.

What’s not quite right is why I’m reminded of The Proclaimers in ‘Kid Dynamite’, but that’s probably just me. Lightyear are kind of like a UK Less Than Jake when they were first starting out on No Idea, playing sweaty little matchboxes, cramming all their instruments on the stage & going mental jumping into each other. And just like LTJ, Lightyear have strong, catchy chorus’s, loud guitars, hippity hoppity rhythms [which have me jigging like a loon around the house] and most importantly a sense of humour. I can’t shower enough praise on this band. They’re quite simply the best ska-punk band the UK has seen in quite a while!