The back catalogue of influential Canadian thrashers Annihilator continues to get a fresh lick of paint, courtesy of earMUSIC. By the late ‘90s, Annihilator main man Jeff Waters had decided to get back to the band’s thrash roots. This resulted in the reunion of original frontman Randy Rampage, and drummer Ray Hartmann. Alongside guitarist Dave Davis, the band delivered the goods with the album ‘Criteria For A Black Widow’ in 1999.
There are some great moments on CFABW, the opening track, ‘Bloodbath’ is peak Annihilator, crunchy riffs, stabbing drums, “THAT” guitar tone, and Rampage spitting and snarling his way through the lyrics. Brilliant stuff.
‘Back to the Palace’ nods to the Alice in Hell and Never Neverland albums. At a time when most metal bands were questioning their existence with the rise of nu metal, Annihilator were forging ahead with their true calling. ‘Nothing Left’ is another full-on thrasher with an amazing performance from Ray Hartmann, he was always one of my favourite thrash drummers. Superb.
The title track is another high point of the album, technical, moody, with more superb performances from a band that’s as tight as it gets. We get some bonus tracks of early demos that are interesting. A must-have in your Annihilator collection.
The band’s momentum carried them into 2001 with the release of Carnival Diablos. This time, we get ex-Overkill vocalist Joe Comeau taking over frontman duties. Hartmann and Davis resume their roles, and we get another solid album in the Annihilator discography. The opening track ‘Denied’ gives us an instant insight into the quality of the material. ‘Comeau’ sounds great, it’s a shame he was just another member in the constant revolving doors at Annihilator HQ. Battered is another full-on thrasher, Jeff Waters should be way more revered than he is. Annihilator are a very important band in the thrash metal story, and their legacy should be cherished.
‘Carnival Diablos’ is solid from start to finish. World-class musicianship and well-crafted songs that remain comfortably in their genre. Waters should be talked about in the same conversations about Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, et al. It’s a travesty that he’s not a household name. Just ask Dave Mustaine what he thinks of Water’s talent.
We get some extra live tracks and a hidden track in a well put together package. Get these albums and remind yourself just how good Annihilator is.
Sometimes, a band name really gives someone no idea what their musical approach will be. Honey Juice popped up in my YouTube feed when the video for their song ’Panic’ was released. I was curious, so I clicked on the link and immediately wanted to hear more from this new band. They just released their debut EP, which doesn’t waste a second across its 14 minutes. While the band appears to be based in Finland, three of the five members came from outside Finland. Their musical direction creates an interesting musical blend that deserves a listen.
On the band’s website, a couple of the musical influences the band lists are the drums of Megadeth and Paramore. I cannot say I have ever listened to Paramore, so my musical comparisons will be different. They launch with the highly melodic ’22 Again.’ This is most definitely not Life of Agony’s ‘Lost at 22.’ This has more of a modern rock feel, where the music opens up for the chorus. The guitar riff pops up in the mix where needed to propel the song. It provides an energetic start to the release. Up next is ‘Panic’, which again was my first exposure to the band. The band serves up a melodic verse with beautiful vocals before the chorus explodes with a visceral scream that comes out of nowhere. The song has a lot of musical elements going on in the mix, which are awesome, but each time that scream comes into the song, it makes it even better. This will be high on my favourite songs of 2026 list.
It would take an ‘Insane Amount of Energy’ to follow up ‘Panic,’ but that is exactly what the next song is called. I am reminded of Yours Truly from Australia here. Another band that has come to mind is recent Gunship and their song ‘Monster in Paradise’, where Milkie Way from Wargasm guested on the song. ‘Go Daddy’ brings something different with the lead vocals reminding me a bit of ‘Nurse’ or Troublegum’ era Therapy? with a hint of Senser. This song flies by way too quickly. There is a scream buried in the mix which pops out with repeated listens. Closing out the EP, ‘Blue Moon Ride’ provides a melodic blast of brilliance which should be a hit single.
Honey Juice should find a large audience with the right exposure, as all five songs on here are winners for me. I have put this on repeat several times this week and keep picking out new things in the songs. My biggest complaint is how fast it is all over. It feels a bit like back when a new Wildhearts’ single would appear, and the CD single would go on repeat. I look forward to watching Honey Juice continue to grow.
‘Lend Me a Feeling’ is available now on digital outlets.
Power Pop masterclass from the heart (beat) of Germany, Dresden to be precise, when you see Wanda and Spaghetty Town, you instantly know that Power Pop Punk with rock’n’roll guitar, organ, and sweet-and-sour melodies are on the menu and if its good enough for them then it’ll be more than enough to fill up my depleated levels of power pop punk rock.
The soppy keys with the sharp guitars and the Clem Burke style backbeat hits you right between the eyes after the misleading intro ‘The Tide IS High’ thunders on, and the F-U-N begins. Hold onto that mile-wide smile because it ain’t gonna stop there. ‘Falling’, is on hyperspeed as it crashes in with that summertime keyboard wheeze chasing off the sped up riff-o-la not to mention the immeasurable amount of joy they bring with the melodies and fun at a time when there isn’t a great deal of either to be had. Listen to The Melmacs, and that will rectify any pessimistic thoughts and turn your frown upside down.
The hits keep coming, one after the other, it’s just top-notch pop tunes wrapped in various shades of guitar riffs and lush melodies. ‘Deadbeat’ has a passing resemblance to some Stranglers keys and JJ Bass thump that walks all over the song, vying for the front and centre of your attention.
‘Run For Your Life’ has the step down from the Clash, but the pure power pop of 80s new wave and FM rock n roll radio coursing through their veins at the speed of light. Spread out over twelve tracks, they never stray from the gutsy sound that’s pure and honest as the day is long. I guess the format is simple: write a killer tune, play it hard like your life depends on it, then do it again over and over, Bingo!
If you want some snotty, zero bullshit, no fucks given punk rock old school, then head for a ‘Showdown’, it’s got attitude and plenty of street smarts to take you down. There’s plenty of variety on offer here in tempo and style, but not massive departures, but enough to keep you interested throughout its twelve tracks. Penultimate track ‘Crying My Heart Out’ is the acoustic strum off with spoken word intro into a poplicious melody and chorus that old school Johnny Thunders would really appreciate.
With one stack heel boot, stomp off before they’re out the door ‘Electric Night’ takes another turn with a killer tune the likes of The Biters would have given a kidney to have penned. I’m gutted it’s only two and a half minutes long. What a killer end to a killer album. Don’t take my word for it, get out there and pick it up, you won’t regret it. Power poppin punk rockin glam slammin records are back, and you can start with The Melmacs! Buy IT!
After four decades as the driving force behind Skid Row, bassist and songwriter Rachel Bolan steps forward with his first-ever solo album under the name BOLAN. “Gargoyle of the Garden State” is a bold, deeply personal debut rooted in the grit, attitude, and storytelling spirit of his New Jersey upbringing.
Produced by multi‑Grammy winner Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Skid Row, Rush, Evanescence, Alice In Chains)The album began as a simple conversation between friends. What started casually quickly evolved into a record that would ultimately define Bolan’s voice as both a songwriter and storyteller.
“Gargoyle of the Garden State is not a project, it is every bit of my soul,” says Bolan. “Like me, it knows when to be serious and also knows where the party is.”
Musically, the album delivers hook-driven, anthemic songs that fuse punk energy with melodic sensibility, wrapped in swagger and raw edge what early listeners have already called “quintessentially New Jersey.” Among its standout moments is a surprising cover of Oasis’ “Rock And Roll Star”, reimagined through Bolan’s distinctive lens.
Expanding beyond his role as a bassist, Bolan performs the majority of instruments, shaping the record from the ground up. Drawing on influences from Brit Pop and Glam to Punk Rock and New Wave, the album represents a lifetime in music.
“Gargoyle of the Garden State” also features an impressive lineup of guests, including Corey Taylor, Danko Jones, Nuno Bettencourt, Damon Johnson, Steve Conte, and fellow Skid Row members Scotti Hill, Dave “Snake” Sabo and Rob Hammersmith.
“It was incredible to work with so many of my talented friends an experience I wish everyone could have at least once,” Bolan adds.
The album is out on June 12th and will be available as CD digipak, LP gatefold, as well as digital and download. PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM HERE
At its core, “Gargoyle of the Garden State” is Bolan at his most honest, a record full of attitude, melody, and personality unmistakably his own.
Seems like every couple of years there is a reissue of this classic rock n roll record and you won’t hear any complaints from RPM. A Stone Cold classic and one that should have seen these bad boys go stratospheric easily, as good as ‘Electric’ by the cult and head and shoulders above anything else coming out at the time with that raw, no bullshit rock n roll. Produced by Rick Rubin, it had the hooks and swagger of classic DC. The band consisted of Swansea’s own (Stephen Harris), Haggis, formerly of the parish Zodiac Mindwarp and The Cult, who cut his teeth in punk band the Autonomes in the late 70s.
Haggis moved to the States and put together one hell of a line up that featured the immense vocals of Frank Starr who was the embodiment of the outlaw rock n rolla frontman who walked the walk and talked the talk Drummer Ken Montgomery passed away not long after the albums original release in 91 the band were aone and done with the classic line up mixing punk attitude with rock n roll barroom hard rock releasing a further album but without founder Haggis in the ranks and then they lost Starr on sunset strip to a drunk driver this album was Originally released in 1991 on Rubin’s Def American label, the album landed just as grunge was breaking and immediately faced an uphill battle for acceptance, despite widespread and justified critical acclaim.
The band gained a reputation for being genuinely dangerous, resulting in drug charges and imprisonment, death and general debauchery. The Horsemen had the reputation that went hand in hand with the music, but most importantly, they had the chops and the tunes to back it up. If you’ve never heard this album, now is the chance to rectify that and join the smug and proud group who know exactly what time it is. From the iconic spoken intro where Haggis lays it on the line, it’s bad boy boogie. Clean, sharp, loud and infectious. A wonderful way to open any record, ‘Nobody Said IT Was Easy’ was to be the band’s opening salvo and something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The crispness in the guitar tone, the vocal performance, it’s just about perfect for a hard-rockin’ record. The only way was up, and after such a strong opener to hit us with the epic ‘Rockin Is Ma Business’ it should have been enough already to catapult them into the top tier.
They weren’t a one-trick pony either because ‘Tired Wings’ had some sweet slide that those brothers Robinson would have killed for. Rip it up with some bad boy boogie on ‘Can’t Stop Rockin’ where Starr opened up his pipes. ‘Wanted Man’ reads like a confession as its sleazy, laid-back groove offers a late-night come-down midway through the record. Once you’ve caught your breath, we get back on it and ‘Let It Rock’ is riff-tastic.
Side two opened up with the band’s signature groove, ‘Hot Head’, whereas ‘Moonshine’ is a bit different, with a cool uptempo groove and the verse vocals sung from the bottom of a bottle of moonshine as the cop cars put on a chase before we get some of that boogie woogie on ‘Homesick Blues’. The album twists and turns towards the big finale of ‘I Need A Thrill/Something Good’, a magnificent way to close off a top-notch album spread out over eight minutes its an absolute classic full stop on a record that hasn’t aged at all and I still get a buzz when listening to it and if it was reissued every other year I’d still get behind it. Everything about it is a winner from the tone of those duelling guitars to the slap of that snare, all rounded off with killer melodies and stunning vocals, the Four Horsemen had all the credibility but none of the success. In a world that constantly looks over great talent and every now and again the starrs align, and a classic underground record gets released and keeps coming back and getting up off the canvas ready to take the plaudits for how damn good it is. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Four Fuckin Horsemen are back in the ring and still swinging, just go buy this fuckin record!
This release features extensive liner notes with a brand-new interview with guitarist Dave Lizmi. Both Lizmi and Haggis have endorsed this release and supplied personal archive material for the layout.
Slyder Smith Unleashes New Single “Killing The Machine” on 10th April A Powerful Anthem Confronting the Rise of Technology and Human Disconnection & unveils new line-up with a string of UK dates
UK rock singer-songwriter Slyder Smith returns with his explosive new single “Killing The Machine”, released on 10 April 2026 — a hard-hitting, thought-provoking track that tackles the growing fear and reality of technology overtaking human connection and control.
Blending gritty guitars, anthemic melodies, and his trademark raw lyricism, “Killing The Machine” channels both urgency and unease, capturing the tension between modern dependence on technology and the instinct to resist it. The track stands as one of Slyder’s most socially charged releases to date, reflecting a world increasingly dominated by screens, algorithms, and artificial noise. “This one’s about that disturbing feeling that we’re losing control,” says Slyder. “We’ve built something that’s meant to serve us, but it’s starting to feel like it’s shaping us instead. It’s about fighting back — holding onto what makes us human.”
Produced by Robin Wynn Evans (Manic Street Preachers, The View, Sam Brown, Dodgy) at TPot Studio, the single showcases a bold evolution in Slyder’s sound — combining a modern sonic edge with the timeless energy of classic rock. Evans’ production brings clarity and punch to a track that is both sonically powerful and lyrically resonant.
Killing The Machine follows a string of acclaimed releases including “Plan To Fail” and “Nobody’s Listening”, further cementing Slyder’s reputation as an artist unafraid to confront uncomfortable truths – from self-doubt and addiction to isolation and societal disconnection. The release also comes as a limited edition numbered CD bundle. Including a signed CD, signed poster & lyric sheet featuring 2 tracks recorded live at a sold-out Forfar 10 Bar show last summer.
The release coincides with a run of UK live shows: 10th April – Bannermans, Edinburgh 1st May – Audio (w/Bonifide), Glasgow 24th May – 10 Bar, Forfar 11th July – Rock Bottom, Falkirk 12th July – Trillians, Newcastle
Now fronting a powerful four-piece band featuring Brian Kerr (guitar), Kevin Skelly (bass, backing vocals), and John McAvoy (drums), Slyder continues to build momentum with electrifying live performances that have already seen sold-out shows and glowing praise from the UK rock press. “The new band is sounding awesome in rehearsal; moving to a 4-piece was a great move that brings much more depth to the sound & we genuinely can’t wait to put it in front of a live audience”
Following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album Charm Offensive (2022), Slyder Smith remains a compelling voice in modern rock — delivering music that is fearless, honest, and deeply relevant to the times we live in.
“Killing The Machine” is available on all major streaming platforms from 10 April 2026.
Rachel Mayfield is joined by former Black Bomber Rhythm section Darren Birch and Dave Twist, and have created the video below, as well as new material that will make up the new album ‘Collect The Hearts’ to be released soon.
This song is taken from Rachel Mayfield’s previous album titled ‘Truth to Material’. The band brought it to their live set while forming and writing new material for ‘Collect The Hearts’, with an attitude not unlike Patti Smith Group, it’s not a solo album with hired hands, but a proper band and if you want to be as good as you can be, then who better to get involved with than Birmingham’s finest. Mayfield has assembled a formidable rhythm section that will help deliver whatever her vision might be.
The band are set to play a live instore in London on Saturday July 4th. Details will go on their Facebook page and, no doubt, Bandcamp. Bookmark the page and keep an eye on what happens next.
Who’s up for a night of feminist shouty punk in a teeny, tiny venue at the arse end of Leeds then? Bristol punk n’ rollers Split Dogs certainly are. Riding high on a recent tour with Gogol Bordello, a new album to be released in September and a stonking new single in ‘Rock n’ Roll Business’ to promote. Tonight, they bring their wares to the ultra hipster Hyde Park Book Club, a prime student hangout filled with books, art, food, and a dark downstairs venue that is perfectly suited for sweaty punk rock debauchery.
Local band Helle are already halfway through their set as I arrive, and they seem to have guitar issues. It doesn’t phase singer Elsie, and she continues to smile and deliver her gothic-tinged riot grrl tunes, while the guitarist and soundman frantically try to fix the issue. The band continue to an already busy room with just bass, drums and an ethereal demeanour. Guitars reinstated, there’s a cool energy that makes me wish I’d turned up 15 minutes earlier. Imagine Siouxsie meets the Slits with a heady dose of Daisy Chainsaw for good measure. The girls look like rock stars, the boys look like…boys. Great stuff.
“Wench are not a girl band!” So states the blue-haired drummer from Hull-based shouty feminist punks Wench!, halfway through their set. I beg to differ as the 3-piece band are certainly girls. But I get it, when you’re playing to a largely male populated room, you gotta rage. And Wench certainly rage, with a raw and more visceral sound than the openers, their brand of aggro punk fits the bill nicely. The fact that the drummer and guitarist both handle lead vocals is pretty cool too, and gives some diversity. Two support bands that prove Northern grrls can riot with the best of ‘em.
Split Dogs are the rock n’ roll business from the moment they hit the stage. Dressed in a sparkly red number, singer Harry is the main focus, it’s difficult to take your eyes off her. Some singers just have a certain presence, and Harri is one of those singers who delivers. And by the time the new single “Rock n’ Roll Business” has floored us about 4 songs in, it’s clear they have the tunes to match.
Guitarist Mil Martinez wears his influences on his tattooed sleeves. The riffs sound like Sleazy Quo, the guitar tone is sublime, and the delivery is a Motörhead-style assault. Newish Bassist Suez is now broken in and holds down the low end, the new shirtless and moustachioed drummer already fits like a leather glove.
“There’s room here at the front!” sneers Harry, beckoning those holding back to come forward and sweat. ‘Lafayette’ sounds killer, ‘Monster Truck’ is a beast and set closer ‘And What’ is as good as it gets.
The relentless touring has paid off, it seems, as Split Dogs are a bit of a damn good live proposition. In a world where Amyl & The Sniffers are playing Enormodomes, it’s a travesty that a band as good as this are still playing small clubs. But hey, let’s keep it our little secret for now, ok. It’s 2026, and I watched 3 great bands for £12, now that’s a bargain night out in anyone’s book.
Some people just have a way with a tune, don’t they? You know that, when it’s time to release an album, it’ll be chock full of earworms. Step forward, Marc Valentine, former Last Great Dreamer, with his third long player, the second on Little Steven’s Wicked Cool label. After 2024’s ‘Basement Sparks’, it should be clear that he knows his stuff.
With ‘Uncommon Side Effects’, you get ten quality tunes, the kind you used to hear on the radio. From ‘NY UAP’, with its simple keyboard melody, we’re straight into territory from the notebook of The Boys. An understandable influence, given Marc’s recent tour dates with the band. ‘High On The Underground’ shamelessly nicks from ‘Sweet Jane’, and reminds these ears of ex-Boy, Duncan Reid.
Marc knows the power of the key change outro, as ‘The Other Side’ shows. Simple, effective and very catchy. In fact, that is the thread throughout the album. Writing simple, memorable songs is anything but easy. Another top songwriter, Chris Catalyst, would, I suspect, enjoy these tunes. ‘Loneliest Part’ and ‘Tiger On Glass’ have echoes of his work and Eureka Machines. They’re responsible for some of my favourite songs ever, so this is no random comparison.
‘Half Moon Pendant’ is a lovely, brief acoustic interlude, before ‘Temporary Buzz’ clouts you round the head like it’s shouting “potential hit single!”. ‘When The Light Has Gone’ ends on a glimmer of hope and a minimal, Buzzcocks-style melody; another EM motif, and a great song. Marc should be proud of this collection of songs. In troubled times, we need a little spark of optimism and joy. Preorder, and catch him on tour in April and May.
Poison City is thrilled to introduce you to Fancy Weapon, a new Melbourne-based group featuring musicians that have all spent decades in the rock n roll game & continue to leave indelible marks across the underground music landscape. Fancy Weapon are Mick Turner, Claire Birchall, Joel Silbersher and Guy Maddison. Their first single ’Squid’, with a lead vocal by Claire, who also produced the single’s video, is out today in the digital world with the debut album set for JUNE 19th.
Fancy Weapon’s debut album will be available on limited edition ‘Deep Sea Blue’ colour vinyl (first 100 copies signed by the band!), CD and all digital stores world-wide.Preorders available now via Poison City E-Store and Bandcamp.
And ahead of the album’s release Melbourne audiences will have two opportunities to catch FancyWeapon live: Friday May 1st at the Thornbury Bowlo, with Savak (from Brooklyn) Saturday May 30th at The Corner, with Tortoise (from Chicago).
Fancy Weapon. An unlikely band name and a most unlikely band. With a line up as unexpected as a ball of lightning, the band sees a cross-generational bunch of Melbourne music perennials – Mick Turner, Joel Silbersher and Claire Birchall – joined by recent transplant Guy Maddison, to make a singular brand of minimalist, incandescent guitar-heavy rock music in the manner that other singular, minimalist, incandescent guitar-heavy rock bands have been making for 50 years or so.
The “Melbourne music perennials” thing is key here, even if Guy is a latecomer to the local scene. In a city of dedicated musicians, the Fancy Weapon people are dedicated. They’re not kids, but they all still play in multiple bands. They all have always played in multiple bands. Music oozes from the pores of all four. Indeed, it pours from the ooze of Fancy Weapon.
Guy Maddisoncame out of the 80’s Perth Punk Rock scene in the band Greenhouse Effect. Relocating with the Effect to Sydney, he soon started throwing musical mudpies around with Lubricated Goat, whose “In The Raw” ABC TV escapades and a contract with Minneapolis based Amphetamine Reptile Records saw them touring the US in the late 80’s. In 1992 Maddison relocated, with Sydney based band Monroe’s Fur, to Seattle, where he joined the Seattle based incarnation of Adelaide band Bloodloss, working again alongside longtime collaborator Martin Bland (the two are still active in La Paire D’Or) and Mark Arm. Recordings on In The Red and RepriseRecords ensued. Guy joined Mudhoney in 2001, replacing original bassist Matt Lukin, and remains the 4-stringer for Seattle’s finest to this day. Returning to Australia in the post pandemic malaise of 2022, he hooked up with old friend MIck Turner, who invited him to join in on what would soon become Fancy Weapon.
Claire Birchall has been making music for the last 30-odd years and is prolific as hell too. Coming out of the Geelong scene in the ’90s, Claire avoided Geetroit expectations and made her mark as a somewhat experimental DIY solo artist before leading bands including Paper Planes and the Phantom Hitchhikers in Melbourne. In more recent years she has charted another new course as a solo synth-pop artist (on Melbourne’s It Records) while at the same time constantly collaborating. Concurrent with Fancy Weapon, Claire is a mainstay of Kim Salmon’s Smoked Salmon project. Her most recent solo album is 2024’s The Haunting. Usually playing guitar or keyboards as well as singing, Claire came into Fancy Weapon as the drummer and co-wrote and sung a handful of songs on this first album. She’ll be doing more of that on the next one.
Joel Silbersher, at the age of 15 in 1986, wrote and sung a song called “My Pal”, which he’s been trying to avoid ever since. A huge influence on the whole Melbourne/Geelong scene that followed – Magic Dirt, Spiderbait, through to the Drones et al – Joel and his fellow botherers in GOD were too troublesome to cash in their indie chart-topping chips for Triple J success in the ’90s. But Joel’s next group Hoss did become standard bearers of a certain type of Melbourne rock in the 90s, before expanding their horizons to create music that has is closely connected to what Joel is doing with Fancy Weapon. Having made a number of solo records (including one, in 2002, for Mick Turner’s King Crab label), Joel has also worked with The Sunset Strip, Charlie Owens (in the duo Tendrils), played occasional bass for the Dirty Three, Tex Perkins and the Simon Juliff Band, and has been sitting on a ‘new’ Hoss album for at least ten years while he finishes the lyrics. Joel’s long-held desire to form a band with Mick Turner has significantly shaped the band that Fancy Weapon has become.
And finally there’s Mick Turner himself. Seen now as something of a musical citizen of the world with the internationally revered Dirty Three, Mick is primarily a Melbourne musician, and has been since he deafened punk audiences with the Sick Things at the beginning of the ’80s. Admittedly he did spend time in the UK in the ‘80s with the Moodists (alongside Dave Graney and Clare Moore) but his iconoclastic and noisy outfits Fungus Brains and Venom P Stinger both had strong local roots, and existed before Mick seemingly became the milder post-rock musician we hear in Dirty Three (and more recently Mess Esque and Bleak Squad). While Fancy Weapon don’t reach Sick Things levels of volume, distortion or belligerence, the band does show that Mick is still happy to sometimes help whip up some sonic disturbance with a clobbering rhythm section for support.
First playing out in early 2025, Fancy Weapon have a number of well-received local shows with the likes of The Double, The Beasts, Penny Ikinger and Toody Cole of Dead Moon behind them, and now, with their first album finished and ready for release, they are set to take on the world.
Fancy Weapon’s self-titled first album was recorded in a single session at Finn Keane’s Head Gap studios in Preston in late 2024, about a week before the studio burned to the ground after a neighbouring business was criminally torched. Further mixing sessions were completed at another venue under the name Head Gap. The album was engineered by Finn Keane and produced by Finn and Fancy Weapon.
The album reflects a self-assured and creative outfit bursting at the seams with ideas. Joel and Claire share lead vocals – Joel on more than half the songs, Claire on three of them, and they share a duet. The vocal melodies are ragged but beautiful as are their occasional harmonies. Joel and Mick share the guitars, and, as a cursory listen reveals, it is very much a guitar record. They are two very distinctive players, and their singular styles mesh spectacularly. Guy on bass and Claire on drums lay solid, powerful and always gripping and striking foundations. It all gets back to that minimalist, incandescent guitar-heavy rock music that we mentioned earlier, and Fancy Weapon do it so well.
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