Once upon a time I raged over the influx of pop-punk bands I was discovering who I felt sounded pretty much the same, or had few unique qualities. Then I came across New Jersey band, Man Overboard and I began to defend pop-punk once again.

As an avid pop-punk fan, I’ve followed bands such as The Wonder Years, With The Punches and Skyway and looked on with excitement as they developed and evolved. However in an activeness sense, none of these seem to match up to Man Overboard. In its existence the band has poured out releases, (from split 7-inches with buddies Transit to acoustic EPs) always giving something to their ever growing legions of fans. July last year saw the release of their debut full length Real Talk which many dubbed pop-punk album of the year ahead of The Wonder Years’ The Upsides, and Transit’s Keep This To Yourself. Real Talk’s sound differs slightly to previous releases due to the rougher and edgier sound that the quartet have gone with, emphasizing that they are indeed a pop-punk band. However, the oh so important balance is kept intact; a step up in the punk side of things only calls for the pop side of Man Overboard to excel. Catchy riffs and vocal harmonies (thanks to duel vocalists Zac Eisenstein and Nik Bruzzese) combined, assist in creating a perfect infectious sound.

Title track “Real Talk” kicks off the record with its drum stick taps and then plunges right into trademark relatable lyrics that the band master: “I understand how it works/ On paper we’re similar people/ But we’re different people.”  The short but sweet song ends by showcasing aforementioned vocal harmonies in conjunction with these crucial, easy to relate to lyrics that I had stuck in my head for days (and wasn’t complaining about!): “That’s what I’m telling myself/That we’re just two different people”.

“Fantasy Girl” is a key example of the band’s subject matter, girls. Man Overboard may cop criticism for this style of lyrical material, but sometimes it’s a comforting feeling to be able to have something to relate to. Something easy to understand first hand is almost a nice change when you take into account the many bands using crazy amounts of metaphors or diving into the depths of global warming issues, which, if you’re not a science buff like myself, is much more confusing than relationships. In this sense, Man Overboard are almost travelling in the footsteps of blink-182, a band who successfully wrote many songs about girls. It worked for them so you can’t hate Man Overboard for being influenced by the kings themselves.

“Parting Gift” is the bands inclusion of a mandatory break up song which is obviously an important puzzle piece to a record about girls. One would imagine the drum kicks and catchy vocal lines (“I wrote you a letter before I went to sleep/It held all the secrets I could no longer keep”) combination would create superb crowd participation due to hand claps and sing a longs at a live show.

Although difficult to pick a favourite on such a consistently solid record, the slick “Al Sharpton”, a song about wishing you were someone else, would be a huge stand out for myself. Again the perfect concurrence of vocals are used, along with the use of key repetition to highlight the lyrics, “I pretend that I’m already someone and all my problems faded away” which is bound to have been posted as a Twitter update countless times. Another favourite of mine is most known track, “Montrose”. The track was taken from 2009’s Dahlia EP and re-recorded for the full length, although little differences are noted as it was more or less perfect in the beginning. The track basically sums up Man Overboard’s sound and includes everything finest of the band. “I Like You” rounds off my top three picks off Real Talk . Apparently about “having sex at school”, the song is simply cute and almost cheesy, but one that most girls would be flattered about if it were written about them. If there were any lyrics to back up this sappy-factor, the following would be it: “I like your face/ That’s why I stare./ You’re everything/ I hoped a girl could be./ So here’s a toast to laying close./ I’m comfy now and I just won’t leave.”

Each release that Man Overboard produce is an improvement on the last and Real Talk is no exception to this. The record is consistently fun, fairly light hearted, catchy, expectation exceeding and most importantly, backs the bands motto, Defend Pop-Punk. You can’t ask for much more than that in a pop-punk record!