Litterbug come from the North West of England – to those who are unfamiliar with the city of Blackpool its regarded by many as Vegas of the North but with a bit less glamour and glitz. Its a pretty shitty city (in the nicest possible way of course) and the fact that a gritty band of ’77 oiks peddling punk rock, would rock up to RPM with an album in their paw and be ever so polite and request we give it a listen is always a good enough reason for us to do just that. Its not much to ask and so here we are presented with a record bulging with tunes of a rather nice brand of noisy – in yer face punk rock.

Litterbug has been together for over a decade and indeed they brings the noise. I’d suggest they might have more in common with the ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ era Damned rather than the sprawling energy of the ’77 first wave and they also tap into the more aggressive stateside punk to my refined ears anyway.  This sixteen-track album ‘Abstract Melodies Saying Terrible Things’  is a follow up to 2017’s ‘Your Perception is Not My Reality’ and 2018’s ‘Countdown to Schadenfreude’ EP. (The latters 4 songs are featured as bonus tracks on the cd version of ‘Abstract Melodies’ which is nice).

The band is tight as a pair of Rizlas in a sweaty back pocket and it none more evident than the sprightly ‘Guinea Pigs’ that meanders its tightly knit rhythm around a very decent tune. The mix is in yer grill and packs a punch, mixing the Steve Diggle type Buzzcocks songs with a thumping bass sound. It’s a formula that’s prevalent on ‘Getting Fined’ as well.  There might not be a lot of variety throughout the record as the songs are quite one-paced but the band prefers the blunt instrument to the more intricate surgeons knife perhaps and there’s nothing wrong with that but with most tunes taking up a mere two minutes plus of your time they never outstay their welcome and I’m sure after a skinful they’d be great to throw yourself around a dancefloor to.

As my resistance is running low the likes of ‘Sludge’ give me a little pick me up and I admit to being fond of a bit of ‘Straight Edge’ the band keeps the energy up even on album closer that paints a picture of the here and now maybe the ‘Pool is like the Bowery was back in the day and the Tache will be the new CB’s? I doubt it and to be fair that was a moment in time never to be repeated. So we just roll on and so will Litterbug as they continue to drop their waste all over the shop and continue to bash out their particular brand of Punk Rock ‘n’ Fuckin noisy Roll and good on ’em too.

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buy ‘Abstract Melodies Saying Terrible Things’ Here