After a highly lauded tour supporting ska titans Reel Big Fish, New Riot had emerged as the infant demigods of modern ska-punk. So it’s a brave move on their part for  stepping back from the upstroke tones with Live Fast, Die Young, the first release from their upcoming Raising The Stakes EP. It’s a move that has paid off.

Save for a few ripples of dissent among the ska purists out there (you know who you are…) New Riot’s emerging penchant for horny pop-punk has gone down nicely. LFDY is the ideal anthem to represent a band that always endeavours to bring the party.

The band’s line-up has changed since the likes of Riot. Sleep. Repeat. and it’s perhaps because of this that we’re seeing change in the NR sound. With new members will have come new influences, new ideas, and a different kind of energy. Who are we to tell New Riot how to make to the most of them?

They’ve not completely changed their tone – it’s just been given it a musical boob job. It’s rare (at best) to find a ‘big’ ska track, so the addition of pop-punk to the mix brings with it ample room for a bigger sound, which New Riot have filled to the brim.

Live Fast, Die Young is a tantalising teaser ahead of New Riot’s new EP. If the lack of upstroke guitar really offends you that much, the chances are you’re taking your ska a little too seriously…