Rufio are a "melodic punk band" from America. Is that me finished now?

Oh. 'MCMLXXXV' (I think we'll just call it '1985', from now on) is exactly what you'd expect from a label run by someone out of The Offspring

• the sound of disenchanted young punksters hoping to emulate their forefathers, Green Day. They have captured some of their peer's successful elements - catchy, melodic choruses, fast paced punk energy, _yadda, yadda, yadda_; Rufio would be an exciting prospect if they weren't so predictable. You can sing each chorus before it arrives, and hear each middle eight before you can reach for the fast forward button.

It's all heartbroken, punk rock campfire singalongs à la *New Found Glory *('Countdown', 'Pirate'), but Rufio do have some additional ammunition which may set them apart from the pop-punk crowd: metal riffs - thank you, Iron Maiden - serrate the edges ('Science Fiction', 'We Exist'), emo tears fall here and there ('_White Light')_, and.....goddamn, those tunes are twice as infectious as any Sum-182-Days.

But it's still pretty conventional, predictable, and really no different from thousands of other punk bands out there. Which is a shame. Rufio could probably show us much more.