When Stephen Straughan isn’t slinging six-string duties with the UK Subs he can be seen and certainly heard plying his trade with his band Hi-Fi Spitfires who do a rather splendid job of churning out very loud albums (This being their fourth) and possibly their most accomplished to date. They sort of stride the louder parts of SLF meets a more hard rock output with shades of Bad Religion here and there to be fair. The riffs are big often bludgeoning the speakers like a musical baseball bat attack but backed up with some great hooks and melodies. ‘Death TV’ has some excellent riffage happening and some of the fretwork is blistering but never at the expense of the song and rather working with the strong tune that will have you singing in no time. Keeping the tempo on the up ‘Out Of Reach’ has some of the Dirtbox Disco sing-a-long harmonies but driven by a frantic pace and full-blooded attack. Loving the breakdown as well as the album begins to take shape it’s clear Steven has been soaking up working alongside Alvin and Charlie and really honed in on his songwriting skills.

There’s no let-up in the pace of the record and neither is there a lull in the quality on offer. All the tracks were penned by Steven except ‘Berlin’ which sees Bass player Tony have a crack and to be fair on the first few plays it just happens to be my favourite track with a rollicking melody and beaming sunshine lick going on it could have been written by the Loyalties at the peak of their powers – a really excellent song indeed.

The Clash and SLF influence shines through on ‘Operation Underground’ from the reggaefied (is that even a word? it is now) intro through the sprightly verse and into the chorus you’ll be throwing shapes and punching the air on the gang vocals as we dive back into some skanking good fun times. It would be unfair of me not to mention the vocals as well because they are really strong throughout the record.

the record sets off on a blistering pace and to be fair doesn’t relent throughout and will please Subs fans who know the potential Steven offers so it won’t come as a surprise to people who have previously jumped on board with the HI-Fi Spitfires but they will be impressed with the strength in numbers throughout this record and to sign off as they came in with the awesome ‘Wolves At The Door’ giving the listener another two and a half minutes of pogoing and circle pit whirling before calling it a day and heading back to track one for another blast around what is a most excellent record of quality songs played to an exceptional standard. Get this fucker on your radar is a proper banger. Over and out its a no-brainer Buy It!

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley