On their second full-length record, Late To The Party, German punk band No Guidance creates a pretty by-the-book record that might get one’s head nodding. With solid vocals and standard guitar riffs, the album hits the target without much fanfare.

The record starts with a jolt with “Oh Hell.” Instrumentally, it’s pounding drums, crushing guitars, and the occasional vocal chorus of unified voices. Its lyrics are pretty surface-level with its musings on how humanity got to the hellish landscape it currently resides in while fighting against the world’s evils.

To add on, the lyrics don’t leave much to the imagination and sometimes trail off into tangents that aren’t completely connected or are overdone. “Stereotype Rich Kid” is a great example of the latter. Its instrumental moves pretty well, with a strong tom presence and roller coaster-emulating guitars that seem to roar. It pulls on the same tropes used to describe upper-class people for generations without anything ironic or funny that other artists can lean into to make a point; it just falls on deaf ears. A conversation about Norse mythology is an interesting place to start.

However, there are some redeeming points on the record and even one song where the group manages to pull it all together. The group’s vocalist is pretty good. He sounds like a few other European punk rockers, like Nicolas Ford from the French act Fallen Resonance. His tone is super clear, and he focuses on producing a good sound rather than trying to reinvent the wheel with his vocals.

However, the best track on the album, “OK Boomer,” puts many of these critiques to bed for a short three minutes. With a great introduction, the guitars on this track rock back and forth with passion. The drums are equally balanced, leaving for accents on important beats instead of simply keeping rhythm.

The lyrics finally have some continuity and meaning that doesn’t sound overplayed. With tones of twisted storylines and misunderstandings, No Guidance creates a borderless song with meaningful metaphors that create a vision rather than just spit-out phrases.

“I’m pretty sure you don’t know anything/ Religious, racial bigotry/ Ignoring the expertise/ Based on a different frequency.”

Overall, No Guidance has a good start and some room to improve. But there are glimmers of something beautiful in a rather cloudy, confusing record.