Aeroplane flutter captivatingly sets the scene for this upcoming Oxford punk three piece. The introduction is swiftly followed with Blink-182 jaunty racket, in the effective 3-chord manner of ‘Better than the Last’, which is regretfully not as joyous as it could be due to the muffled, ever-so-slightly indecipherable vocals. Suggs would be immensely proud of the Madness-inspired Ska piece ‘Feeling Wasted’, which is the first signpost to the Scandal being Jack’s of All Trades. Whether they are masters of none remains to be seen. Draw, Weed, Pot, Grass call it what you will, sets the tone for track five, the sublime ‘Junkie’. With lyrical content and tunes banging almost happily and mournfully at the same time like not seen before, the poignancy of the words leads one to feel the refrain of ‘I know my face, but I don’t recognise it’ being drawn (excuse the pun) from first-hand experience.

Track five, the intriguing underwater swamp-opened **‘?’, is the Scandal at their most pensive. A long heavy instrumental, full of mood and atmosphere, which is a most interesting juxtaposition to ‘Liar Liar’, the punked-up Greenday-like showcase for Tad’s vocals. Terminating track, ‘Serious Problems’, with it’s charged energy, and Nirvana-esque ways. The secret bonus track end refrain of ‘Smoking Ganga’ proves an ideal way to conclude the ultimate brat-punk debut album.

Look out for the scandal on http://www.oxfordsbands.co.uk