Review by: Mark Skold
Fun Size are the classic mould of what a pop punk band sounds like. Bouncy, happy, non-aggressive songs that are really catchy and fun. Pop Secret is one of their few releases (perhaps the only one) before signing to Fuelled By Ramen (established by Vinnie and John of Less than Jake). It’s such a killer label, I thought that there must be a good reason that they are there, so I thought I’d check this out.
One thing that I noticed about the band, from the inlay card in the CD box, is that two of them have really long ‘metal headbanger’ type hair. This did not bode well, but then all this independent music scene is about fucking the image and concentrating on the music, man. So we move on…..
Fun Size sound like a pretty cool band – they have cool sounding guitars, a rather normal sounding rhythm section and a vocalist whose voice is very suited to the music. The songs they play are not bad at all. Many of them have the sugar-sweet, poppy, catchy sound that will attach itself to the part of your brain that makes you sing to yourself in the shower and hum while you walk down the street. Standout tracks are ‘Cool’, goofy cover of Sting’s ‘Don’t Stand’, and the super-singalong ‘Pickle’. All are prime examples of pop-punk tuneage. Unfortunately, the rest of the CD tends not to make too much of an impression.
Perhaps not the greatest CD ever, but I’m happy to have this one in my collection.