Named after a Jack Kerouac novel about adolescent romance, Guildford newcomers Maggie Cassidy make effervescent and lyrically astute alt.rock-meets-pop-punk that pays homage to the literary great after which they are named. Life Is Beautiful, the quintet’s debut EP, showcases the band’s obvious potential, and while these five songs aren’t exactly ground-breaking, they’re pretty well put together. Opening track Tell Me Why begins with a super-charged pop-punk intro which calls to mind the likes of Neck Deep – whose guitarist Seb Barlow produced this record – and ROAM, before giving way to more of a straight-up rocker that excels thanks to its sharp-edged bridge section and thumping conclusion. Just To Know is a similarly promising song that, despite being pretty formulaic, demons...
