Angels & Airwaves - 'It Hurts' (Island) 24/07/06

As far as super groups go, Angels & Airwaves sound like every skater boy or girl's wet dream. Vocals courtesy of Tom Delonge of Blink 182, heading up a band comprised of ex-members of The Offspring, Boxcar Racer and The Distillers. They've already managed to sell out the whole of their UK tour and were handpicked by Dave Grohl to support the Foo Fighters at Hyde Park, accolades for a side project that would make Jack White cry into his Cola.

'It Hurts' is exactly what you would expect from the bands that Angels & Airwaves pinched members from. Blink 182 melodic riff, with Delonge's usual half-pink, half-Emo delivery and some serious skin bashing from Ryan Sinn who is more used to bashing behind Brody Dale. This is not a unification of musicians pushing sonic boundaries and creating something new: it's a piecing together of sounds that anyone who is excited at the prospect of Angels & Airwaves on paper won't fail to enjoy. For anyone who is just curious, it's average US punk-pop, all of the artists here have done it bigger and better before.