WHO ARE THEY? A descriptively (and only somewhat sardonically) named quartet of self-proclaimed “punk rock lifers” from Nottingham.
WHAT IS THIS? Their third full-length release in six years, and a disc that aims to deliver “scorching reflection on balancing your creative impulses against the commitments of impending middle age.” Which is a highfalutin’ way of saying it’s made by grownup punks for grownup punks.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? A powerfully aggressive, deliberately paced cross between whole bunch of great bands, from The Birthday Party and Jesus Lizard to Nirvana and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.
WHAT WOULD BE A BETTER TITLE FOR THIS ALBUM? We’re Not Getting Older; We’re Getting Crankier.
HOW SHOULD I LISTEN TO IT? With your hearing aid cranked up to the max.
WHAT 10 WORDS DESCRIBE IT? Noisy, angry, claustrophobic, pounding, grinding, intense, potent, discordant, wiry, spiky.
WHAT ARE THE BEST SONGS? The brutal and blistering slog Hydropona, the searing and serrated Ghost in Your Own Life, the relentlessly chugging riff-fest The Nag.
WHAT WILL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY SAY? ‘I guess some people just never grow up and settle down — and thank God for that.’
HOW OFTEN WILL I LISTEN TO THIS? As often as you want to have your ass kicked (in the musical sense).
IF THIS ALBUM WERE A NATURAL DISASTER, WHAT KIND OF DISASTER WOULD IT BE? A lava flow that slowly but surely incinerates everything in its sluggish path.
SHOULD I BUY, STREAM OR STEAL IT? They aren’t doing this for their health, you know.
