Belgian rockers Supergenius’s début album Supertired (Hypertension/9000 Records) is awash with Nineties influences, it is chunky melodic rock with a strong vein of Indie and pop-Punk running through it. ‘Charmer’ has a nice, whistleable chorus to add to its strong, radio friendly Foo Fighters vibe. They also share the fuzzy guitar tone and slight sense of melancholy of Weezer, the heavy rhythms of ‘Know Your Knots’ demonstrates this. Edward Godby’s everyman vocal style shares more than a passing resemblance to Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer of aforementioned sweater pulling rockers.

This Nineties-oriented sound is a departure from their collectively heavy past which includes loud and raucous Hardcore artists such as Rise and Fall, Hitch, Oathbreaker, Blind to Faith, Wiegedood and Beecher. Edward, Wim, Michael and Vincent joined forces in the summer of 2014 to create Supergenius and, after a jam session, released their self-titled EP (Golden Antenna) that December. It was a little taster of things to come, a template that they follow with Supertired.

The record is at its best when it is loud and fast, as is case with the short, sharp and punky blast of ‘A Serious Case of Imposter Syndrome’. This blast of attitude is continued in ‘Acrobats’, a wonderful whirlpool of loud yet melodious rock. Unfortunately, not all the album reaches this consistent level of dynamism and zing, too many moments seem humdrum and overtly dragged out. ‘Acrobatics’ is a quiet and ruminative piece which just passes you by in a rather nondescript manner. Similarly, ‘Drifting Tonight’ has ballad-esque intentions but alas it just ends up drifting rather lifelessly by.

A decent début album which shows the promise of things to come, melodious rock with plenty of bite ala ‘Charmer’ and ‘A Serious Case of Imposter Syndrome’, but which is unfortunately filled with too many moments that just pass you by.

6.0/10

THOMAS THROWER