So, you are a small UK punk rock trio with a well received debut album under your belt, what do you do to further your career and achieve world domination? Well, record a follow up that will stand up to those of your peers, songs that will stick in the mind and make the listener want to press play again rather than move on to the next big thing from across the water. Does 'Scratches & Scars' live up to these high expectations? Well, read on to find out.

'Scratches & Scars' is the self-produced, second long player from Templeton Pek, a punk rock three piece from Birmingham who play short, sharp stabs of melodic punk rock. They have an impressive CV supporting the likes of Pennywise, Bad Religion, Rise Against and Funeral For A Friend amongst others.

Opener 'Calculate The Risk' draws immediate comparisons to The Offspring and AFI - ok, not too shabby so far. First single 'Barriers' made Single Of The Week on Kerrang! Radio recently, and after several listens I am still scratching my head as to why. To be honest, it is a pretty average sounding tune. 'Break The Habit' starts with a brutal beat and has some cool shouty background vocals and great drums. Several songs have these shouty background vocals reminding me of The Automatic; it would have been nice to hear more of this as they work well, giving the songs a bit of an edge.

Templeton Pek, to me, are seriously lacking just one thing....a chorus! They have the riffs and the ability for sure and this album has some good stuff on it, songs like 'Dark Matter' and 'Crosswires' are pretty good, but they don't set my world on fire. A lot of the songs are samey and don't keep my attention, even now I am struggling to remember any stand out melodies.

'Scratches & Scars' is a solid effort and Templeton Pek show some promise for the future but, until they discover the fine art of a catchy chorus, I feel they will just blend in with the growing hordes of punk pop rock acts doing the rounds.

www.myspace.com/templetonpek