Simple Plan
It’s been a while since Simple Plan were a relevant band in the pop punk scene. They’ve had a stream of singles, and will soon be releasing their fourth studio album, but they have, by and large, been a bit of a running joke within the genre. This looks to change with their new single, featuring Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo on a guest verse. The chorus seems heavily influenced by the guest star’s band, which is definitely a good thing for Simple Plan and this song’s prospects. This is Simple Plan at the catchy best, akin to tracks like ‘Shut Up’ that are just pop-punk glory. It’s never about over-complicated music or influential, important lyrics. Pop-punk can be emotional and moving, but sometimes a mindless song about high school love it just fine. ‘Can’t Keep My Hands Off You’ is a great pop-punk song, although the stigma of the genre is that the track may get repetitive and become tedious if it becomes successful and thus overplayed. It definitely has the hook to be a hit, without a doubt. Rivers Cuomo’s guest verse is brilliantly done, and the song really does feel like a more recent Weezer effort (in the style of ‘I Want You To’). It’s a pity Rivers just sticks around long enough for one verse, because having him guest on all verses of the track may have helped raise it to the next level. As it stands, ‘Can’t Keep My Hands Off You’ should succeed in getting fans suitably excited for the next Simple Plan album, whilst garnering enough radio play to keep them in the ears of the public. With bands like All Time Low introducing a new era of pop-punk with keyboards and over-production, Simple Plan seem to be proudly flying the flag for classic pop punk with a formulaic but great track. Female First - Alistair McGeorge