BOWLING FOR SOUP – Emily
The tubby Texans rode the wave of pop-punk with the spiky riff and joyous video of ‘Girl All the Bad Guys Want’. While they’d achieve further, if smaller, success with the likes of ‘1985’, things went a bit pear-shaped on the follow-up – ‘Emily’ plays it straight, and despite its neat counterbalance of chugging verse and melodic, harmony-rich refrains, is criminally forgettable.
UK chart placing: 67 Indepiendent rating: 5/10
Good or bad: As an album track, it kills the time with its soaring chorus, but it lacks any kind of killer hook. ‘Punk Rock 101’ couldn’t come soon enough.