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Released: 6th May 2022
Rating: ★★★★
Anyone who grew up in the glory days of early-00s MTV pop punk will have a long relationship with Simple Plan – so much so that ‘Harder Than It Looks’ might easily feel like that 20-year cycle pulling youthful trends back into focus. But then Simple Plan have never really stopped being Simple Plan.
On sixth studio album ‘Harder Than It Looks’ they’re a band evolved from the one making purile wordplay through the TV screen two decades ago. Opener ‘Wake Me Up (When This Nightmare’s Over)’ might be almost painfully on the nose given events of recent years – despite the fact it was actually laid down before the pandemic hit – but it’s also a more mature Simple Plan. Teaming up with Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley for ‘Ruin My Life’ is enough to successfully turn those clocks back, while ‘The Antidote’ sees the band fully embracing their own sonic identity.
Enough to make you feel just a kid again.
