WILL BURTON (Gaelan Connell), a misfit muso with a Napoleon Dynamite ’fro, escapes his daily high school hell by writing letters to David Bowie. He’s delighted when mum Karen (Lisa Kudrow) announces they’re moving to another state: finally, a chance to reinvent himself and escape his tormentors.
Rock ’n’ roll rules the roost at Will’s new school. He hits it off with kooky Sam (Vanessa Hudgens), or Sa5m as she likes to spell it, only to become obsessed with ex-cheerleader Charlotte (Alyson Michalka) – despite Sa5m’s warnings she’s not to be trusted. Charlotte ropes Will into managing her band and whipping them into shape for rock competition Bandslam, where the prize on offer is a bona fide record deal. Will still can’t quite find his social niche, but at least he’s left his past behind, hasn’t he? Of course not – it’s only a matter of time before his own personal hell catches up with him.

BANDSLAM HAS it all: insider rock references (such as conversations about early Velvet Underground albums and a trip to cult New York club CBGB), teen angst (a first-kiss scene achieves levels of excruciation not seen since Danny put his arm around Sandy at the drive-in in Grease), catchy songs, skeletons falling out of closets, high school politics, angry drummers and double-crosses. Laugh-out-loud funny, with less sugar and more teen spirit than the likes of High School Musical.