Reviewed by Martin I Smith

Pop-punk as a style, through being typically simple to produce and infectious to receive, has long suffered from over-saturation. Amongst countless other contemporaries, it would not be unexpected for this North Carolina four-piece to be quickly forgotten if Philmont brought nothing but a few more frantic tempos and power chords to the scene. But fortunately 'Oh Snap' has much greater musical muscle to it than that. Yes, as you'd expect, the tracks are brief and buzzing with pop-hooks and, true, the vocal style is not a departure from the oft accused "whiney" genre staple. But what sets Philmont apart is the commendable depth and texture to each song. Beneath and beyond the record's surface bopability the listener finds extra layers of guitar, extra layers of vocal harmony, synthesisers and piano melodies too. What's more, none of it is frivolous, but instead applied with a coherence that can only be described as good songwriting. If Philmont's staying power is still in doubt, one should note that Josiah Prince's guitar work in "Photosynthetic" displays a potential for conveying emotional subtlety that far exceeds the genre's usual bluntness and Scott Taube's successful combination of witty and passionately spiritual lyrics are of a potency much akin to Relient K's Matt Thiessen (just see "My Hippocratic Oath"). With a duration of less than 20 minutes, this six-song item is over not long after you pop it into your CD player. Philmont's career will be far longer lasting. This is a debut with great promise.

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