Good Charlotte are almost too good to be true. Not only do they include a set of identical twin brothers - one sweet, one a little sour, sharing a dysfunctional background (their father fled the family nest on Christmas Eve, leaving financial and emotional turmoil in his wake) - but they make issue-heavy, moshpit-friendly punk pop that is an MTV dream.

Unlike the cartoon angst of bands Blink 182 and Sum 41, Good Charlotte mean it. As Joel Madden tears into The Anthem, a clarion cry for the misunderstood, his painful adolescence is less an adaptable set of memories than a bleeding series of open wounds.

Good Charlotte's self-titled debut album was released to acclaim in the US in 2000, but it is their soon-to-be-released second offering, The Young and the Hopeless, that is getting the UK's 15-year-olds hot under their hooded tops. The music is full of caustic humour, Ricki Lake-style confessions and thrashy guitars. And as they launch into I Hate My Dad and Want to Die, the punk-lite rhythms smooth out the sharp edges and the brothers Madden reveal themselves in all their bitter glory.

However, Joel and Benji Madden look like boys next door. Singer Joel makes the girls swoon even when he spits out words through clenched teeth. Benji, playing guitar with a black bandana around his head, is edgier and sulkier. Both twenty-somethings have high, boyish vocals at odds with the grinding sound.

Each song is either a sprint through sadness or a meandering, melody-led walk through Gorky Park. New song London Worldwide is full of crunchy guitars and lyrical repetition, intoxicating the crowd like cider.

Bassist Paul Thomas prowls around the drum kit, while energetic guitarist Billy Martin spins in circles, stopping only to smooth his floppy hair before bursting into the frenzied fun of Riot Girl and the warped joy of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

But, although Good Charlotte's strength lies in identifying with their audience, there is at least one crucial difference. "We love Oasis," Benji tells us, only to be met with a chorus of boos.