Dom Daley.

Firstly don’t let the cover fool you this isn’t a foray into the woods with some Black Metal loons but a well-rounded bash over the head with a sonic assault that is varied and well above average.
Starting with the punchy ‘Gotta Get Through’ with its four to the floor before the guitars wail in and the bass tries its best to summon up the dead as the vocals just repeat the song title in a manic and panicked manner.  Its a rush of an opener and quite exciting and certainly interesting because this could go all manner of ways including tits up or straight to the top of any end of year best of list.
These Northern upstarts have indeed got divine rights and it is their divine right to shout about it and shout about they shall. This island off mainland Europe can indeed drop into a cesspit of corrupt right-wing self-serving politically self-serving scumbags and every now and again the kids need to rise up and put on their shit kickers and kick some shit and maybe that time is now. ‘L’etat Cest Moi’ nicely throws its weight into the jerking rhythm of ‘Hate Song’.  At times this power trio sounds menacing in a way that Cabbage sometimes also achieve and that modern take on noise is showcased on the epic ‘Where No Man Comes’.

If there is a theme running through this album then its of a band of brothers raging against the machine and throwing stones and musical bombs until people sit up and take notice no matter if its via the preaching purposeful march of ‘Free The Slave’ taking a left turn via the beaute dan le rue of ‘Ballad Of Winston Smith’ with its 60’s style storytelling that builds and swirls majestically to ‘Et Tu’ with its heavy hypnotic riff-a-rama before ‘Brutus’ is the sound of a stressful mind twisting and turning as it comes to grips with what is going on on the streets of our austerity ravaged towns.  It’s no shock that these boys are playing with Idles and Cabbage for what would be an extremely heavyweight line up of modern rock bands who have something to say and say it well and manage to wrap it up with some awesome musicianship.

‘Brave New World’ is a rollicking song with a spring in its step not unlike who they might be alluding to in the lyrics it’s confident and brash taking Kasabian to an extreme in some ways but actually having something to say.
The album signs off with a cold and sparse ‘Orbit (Salmon Of Alaska)’ but as you hold your breath and take in the lyrics you’ll smile that finally some bands on shit island are waking up and creating music with meaning and variety and guts.
Viva le revolution – bring it on kids lets wake up the good people of shit island and show them the way through Rock and Roll for its a broad church and all are welcome.