THE GREAT ST LOUIS - Forever Now (JSNTGM)

Every now and then I'll feel like I am drifting away from punk music, that none of it interests me anymore, and that I might as well resign myself to the fact that every punk band I really love put out their best records in the last century. Then, inevitably, I'll hear a new band that puts all those fears to rest and makes me feel like an excited teenager just discovering music all over again. Bolton-based The Great St Louis are, for the moment, that band.

Opening track 'No Change' is a good indicator of what to expect, which is this: melodic punk rock in the vein of Leatherface, but perhaps with the rougher edges sanded down a tad. Not that this is slick, overproduced mush, or indeed like a slick, overproduced Mush (that was a good pun, wasn't it?), it's just that The Great St Louis' take on punk is a bit catchier, has a few more 'whoa-oh's and 'na-na-nahs' and an ever-so-slightly less gruff vocal style than the Boat, with singer John sounding as if he only smokes 400 fags a day to Frankie Stubbs' 1000.

Not that this is Leatherface lite, (Plasticface?), mind you - tracks like 'Tonight' (do check out the video on YouTube), the almost-perfect pop-punk 'Summer', the sounds-a-bit-like-Snuff singalong of 'Sink' and set-closer 'Nah Nah Nah' (guess how that one goes!) prove that this isn't a band just ripping off established punk bands, but a band capable of writing some of the finest, most hook-stuffed punk songs you're likely to hear. It's almost hard to believe that this is their debut album, as there are many bands playing this sort of thing who don't achieve these heights in their entire lifetime.

The only minor disappointment is in their cover of the Levellers' 'Robbie Jones' - it's not that it's bad, but it certainly screams 'B-side', and makes more sense when they play it live than it does in the middle of an album. But that literally is the only 'flaw' with the album - that one of the tracks is merely 'quite good', while the rest are nigh-on unbeatable.

I'm trying not to be too hyperbolic about this record, but if there is a better album by a UK punk band this year - nay, this decade - I'll be very, very surprised indeed. The Great St Louis? The Fucking Amazing St Louis, more like.