The name *Pulley *– along with *The Living End *and early *NOFX *– will, personally, always be synonymous with my 15-mile car journeys to and from college. Aside from being perfect driving music on a warm blue-skied summer day Pulley - like The Living End and NOFX - always seemed like a band with a little more up their collective sleeves than lightweight sing-a-long pop songs with guitars, their songs entrenched in riffs with muscular twists and scolding chugs that never seemed prone to overdosing on the saccharine in favour of the real meat.

Such bold, beat-blasting tunes continue on their 5th full-length ‘Matters’, the album boasting a veritable collection of summer-punk ditties that, while not a million miles away from the majority of Epitaph’s roster, is still a worthy batch of gems in their own right. In fact, having formed in the mid-90s Pulley’s sound resonates with the brash energy that Epitaph built its reputation on through the early _Punk-O-Rama _compilations.

Of course, it’s hard to escape the blatant *Bad Religion *and *Pennywise *influences creeping into their formula through the songs _‘YSC’ _and _‘Poltergeist’ _and thanks to Matt Hyde’s production influence this time their edgy style appears smoothed out just slightly compared to the abrasive, dark hooks that are rooted in their self-titled 1999 classic. But, that said, this is still a vibrant, party-rockin’ album of melodic punk rock with enough staying power to evade the ‘throwaway’ label.