The latest single from Surrey's version of Fall Out Boy, UNDERDOG finds You Me At Six sticking to the pop punk formula that's so far seen them get this far uscathed.

So it's business as usual with sugar coated pop melodies, crashing guitar chords and frenetic drum patterns; all teen angst, explosive energy and derivative musicality. Undoubtedly catchy as all hell, UNDERDOG features the kind of day glo pop rock chorus that just calls out for call and response, obviously the soundtrack to a thousand tween alcohol binges and coming of age revelations; but really if you haven't heard increasingly similar sounding three minute romps like this already countless times before, you've really been living under a particularly remotely located rock somewhere for the last decade.

UNDERDOG will satisfy those for whom there just isn't enough Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and 30 Seconds To Mars soundalikes out there already, for anyone else this is strictly derivative and by the book pop punk noise that fails to distance itself from the pack.

In some circles, Emo is a dirty word. But not here, not today.
Not when You Me at Six have made an impeccable second album of cranking, passionate rock music; the sort of music that has spawned its own marmite-esque genre over the last decade and earned the sometimes-derogatory label of ‘Emo’.

Following in the footsteps of American Emo giants My Chemical Romance and Panic at the Disco, You Me at Six are the first British band to really make an impact on the scene, creating a sound worthy of a place in the royal court of Emo.

Like it or not, that’s what they are. It’s all there; a compressed package of crunking guitars, ferocious vocals and chantable one-liners. And it’s brilliant.

Their sound is notably more mature and less poppy than both their American counterparts and their 2008 debut, ‘Take Off Your Colours’. However, there are some incredibly catchy moments that have allowed the band a chart-friendly album that still retains all its rock credibility.
Lyrically, Hold Me Down is a vitriolic education in how to love, lose and get your heartbroken, penning an abundance of lines that will make their way onto teenage screen names and fronts of schoolbooks across the country.
Diving straight into the good stuff, album opener ‘The Consequence’ is a hunk of catchy riffs and gasping vocals with the sort of lyrics that fans across the country are already preparing to shout back at them in sweaty gig venues.
Lead single Underdog has already caught the attention of Radio 1 and no doubt a contender for a place in the Top 10 upon its release.

Other highlights include stuck-in-your-head material like ‘Safer to Hate Her’ (a ridiculous rhyme that somehow works) and ‘Hard to Swallow’ (Who do you wanna save?/Who do you want to be tonight?).
‘Contagious Chemistry’ packs a heavy punch with stabbing thumps of noise and ‘There’s No Such Thing As Accidental Infidelity’ shows that vocalist Josh Franceschi is at his best when he is at his bitterest (“Go back to someone else/ Who wants you more than me”).
Contrary to its title, Album ender ‘Fireworks’ is the closest you’re going to get to a ballad on Hold Me Down as Franceschi wails, “I don’t know who you are/When you sleep with somebody else”. It’s a brilliantly passionate end to an exhaustingly emotional album that just gets better and better the more you play it.

So many bands have successful debuts and then change their sound in an attempt to keep their fans’ attention. You Me at Six have stuck to the same sound as their debut, which can be seen as a good and bad thing depending how you look at it. The band has made another good record, but are their fans going to bore of the same sound again? Other reviewers have pulled the band up on this point, snubbing ‘Hold Me Down’ as samey, but here at UkMusicReview we think if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. And nothing needs fixing by You Me at Six.

The Digital Love EP is a split EP featuring three songs from My Friend Eject and three from No Hope Astronaut.
MFE kick off proceedings with crisp, nu-metal guitars and melodic vocals. There’s no shouting or screaming here, just vocalist Carlo Rinaldi’s low, Disturbed-esque drawl.
First track Digital Love is the musical highlight but the cheesy, ‘digital’ lyrics will make you cringe; “Click to download my fears… Wake up, don’t delete my soul”. The shredding guitars and killer riffs help the record recover however.
‘More Ice’ has a powerful chorus whereas ‘Army of One’ picks up a faster tempo, sounding like Enter Shikari and conjuring up images of fans everywhere will be dancing frantically.
No Hope Astronaut start their portion of the EP with the frantic yet catchy ‘Split the Sky’. Vocalist Joe Dowling has a fantastic, Americanised wail that combines a mixture of Adam Lazarra’s soothing emo and Daryl Palumbo’s melodic rasp.
Harpoon Tragedy is a creeping, guitar driven song that ends with a roaring finale of slayer-esque noise. The EP ends with the best song – ‘Into the Fire’ has a gentle, chanted chorus and Dowling takes on a softer, Placebo-style whine in places, but the instruments remain penetratingly heavy.
My Friend Eject are a genuine rock band, will all the ingredients to become a success. They are reminiscent of early noughties nu-metal, so whether they’ll be a success in the current climate of pretentious indie and girl-shaped pop is uncertain.
No Hope Astronaut benefit greatly from an excellent vocalist and when combined with such a raucous but refined sound, they make for an excellent rock band.