  
The first time I came across Patent Pending was
when they headed over to the UK for the first
time to support Bowling For Soup in October 2012
and to coincide with that tour Patent Pending,
Bowling For Soup and The Dollyrots all teamed
up for the ‘One Big Happy’ album which
featured each of the three bands cover one of
each of the other bands songs and also featured
a brand new song from each band with Patent Pending
unleashing the super catchy ‘Psycho In Love’
whilst also covering ‘Hyperactive’
by The Dollyrots and ‘Shut Up And Smile’
by Bowling For Soup and they instantly became
the stand out band from the compilation.
Now a year on and Patent Pending are back in the
UK opening for Bowling For Soup on their last
ever UK tour which happens to be a greatest hits
tour where Bowling For Soup play over 30 songs
from their back catalogue and Patent Pending get
45minutes to warm the crowd up with their infectious
pop-punk and their songs and whole stage antics
remind me exactly of how Bowling For Soup were
back in the day and kind of still are.
To coincide with the Bowling For Soup tour Patent
Pending have just released their latest studio
album ‘Brighter’ which was fully funded
through the fan funding site Pledge Music which
happens to be a winner for bands and their fans
these days as the band offer various different
special experiences for different prices with
the money being used to pay for the cost of creating
the album which eliminates bands having to go
through a record label and the worry that a record
label is going to mess with their sound and style.
Brighter is a big fun pop punk album which kicks
off with ‘There Was A Time’ which
is a short and sweet song running for just under
one minute which reminds me ever so much of current
chart superstars Fun. ‘Shut It Down’
follows on from the opening track and from the
off you can tell that the song is going to be
a live favourite with opening chants of “O-wo-oh
o-wo-o-oh o wo-o-o-oh” which get lodged
in your head within seconds. ‘Let Go’
is a big fun fast paced bouncy song from start
to finish which is as poppy as it is rocking with
a slight gospel sounding spin off, lyrically the
song is fun especially with the chants of “Fuck
you”.
‘Hey Mario’ features Patent Pending
at their best as they have created a 3minute song
about everyone’s favourite Nintendo character
and it is amazing how they have made the song
sound so fun and catchy with classic Mario sounds
and such creative and witty lyrics with Joe Ragosta
singing “Mario get your shit together bro,
you’ve got to know this princess isn’t
worth these extra lives, just let her go (go go)
Mario, you’re a next level bro and she’s
a jump too short when the clock is running low”
and also “You’re a plumber, a doctor,
a race car driver, An athlete, a spaceman, a super
smash survivor, you’ve got coins like mad,
get a bachelor pad, down in cocoa beach, where
the hunnies at” and anyone who has played
any Mario game will appreciate the lyrics and
maybe even think from the point of view of Patent
Pending next time they are going mad collecting
those coins.
The title track ‘Brighter’ is a big
anthem, it takes it’s time to get going
but when it does Patent Pending really do let
rip and the lyrics give out a real positive message.
‘Classic You’ features Jaret Reddick
from Bowling For Soup and is exactly what you
would expect from Patent Pending teaming up with
the Bowling For Soup frontman, the song is extremely
infectious and equally sarcastic and funny. ‘The
Whiskey, The Liar, The Thief’ is like a
big rock N' roll track with a pop pace and punk
attitude and it is easily one of the stand out
tracks from the album and also certain to be a
live favourite as I can imagine thousands of people
going large when this is played on the live circuit.
The album closes with ‘Damn!’ a song
that sounds nothing like what you would expect
from Patent Pending yet it is a perfect happy
ending to such a solid album, but if you hang
around for a few moments after ‘Damn!’
ends you are greeted with ‘Spin Me Around’
which is a beautiful sounding acoustic bonus track
about being in love and growing old together.
It seems that Patent Pending have chose the right
time to try and conquer the UK as they have enjoyed
some successful tours over here alongside Bowling
For Soup and now Bowling For Soups are calling
it a day on touring the UK Patent Pending are
the perfect band to fill the gap in the markey
and they have done the maths by deciding to go
it alone with a headline tour booked for April
2014 and on the back of their recent live shows
and the 12 diverse tracks featured on Brighter
I couldn’t think of a better time to get
involved in the bright world of Patent Pending
4.5/5
Review by Trigger
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