BRAND NEW ZEROS
Back To Zero (Fretsore)
Solid 70s rock’n’roll is mixed up with more dubious balladeering on this second release from Ronan McManus and Luke Dolan. When the guitars are going full throttle, Dolan’s solos sound like Springsteen’s better six-string moments, full of bite and bending expression, while McManus delivers the rockier material with a convincing growl that puts Brand New Zeros alongside The Gaslight Anthem and other modern rock acts.
The quieter songs are, lyrically, closer to Billy Bragg but somehow the edge is missing: despite the obvious conviction in the words the delivery just doesn’t match it. It’s impossible to not hear the influence of McManus’ big brother Elvis Costello, in lead single Cigarette, which is worthy of comparison. A mixed yet promising set that shows what this duo could be capable of with a greater focus and more forward momentum.
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES
THE GOON SAX
Mirror II (Matador)
Australian three-piece The Goon Sax introduced themselves to the world, or at least a small subset of it, while in their mid-teens, which often means that people think of you as callow youths for some time after you actually are. It sounds like the now-twentysomething band, previously signed to uber-Aussie indie Chapter Music and debuting on the larger Matador for their third album, are aware of this too, recording Mirror II in Bristol early last year and looking to write music that transcended any potential stylistic ruts.
To a point, they’ve succeeded. Produced by John Parish, these 10 songs tot up many layers and angles, splaying tasty jazz sax over Bathwater and wavey keyboards throughout Desire. Drummer Riley Jones writes music here for the first time, making the eyebrow-raising claim of being influenced by both Keiji Haino and Kylie; naturally, these songs resemble neither, but experimentation is undoubtedly happening amidst the more familiar Goon Sax stumble-jangle and wistfully sardonic vocals.
words NOEL GARDNER
HALF WAIF
Mythopoetics (Anti-)
Only a year after Nandi Rose, aka Half Waif, released The Caretaker, she has returned with her fourth, very assured and mature album. Mythopoetics presents a fully realised artistic vision, created by Rose and frequent collaborator Zubin Hensler, that gives room for Rose’s piano playing to breathe through the clatter of beats and percussive sounds that punctuate and agitate the songs.
Much like Fiona Apple’s latest album, Rose takes a deep look at the loneliness of losing love, mental health and memory. Standout Orange Blossom reads like a Sondheim lyric, tapping into specific thoughts and feelings but somehow giving them a universality that touches the listener with a gently painful yet cathartic kiss.
Vocally, Rose has all the range and melodic invention of Joni Mitchell with phrasing reminiscent of Alison Goldfrapp. Though there’s pop hits here too, there’s no compromises being taken; this is an album by someone who has a musical vision and knows exactly how to execute it.
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES
INHALER
It Won’t Always Be Like This (Polydor)
After a breakneck run of substantial singles, Dublin quartet Inhaler’s momentum was somewhat disrupted when the pandemic threw a huge spanner into their works, whilst the release of their eagerly anticipated first album It Won’t Always Be Like This was derailed. This delay gave singer and guitarist Eli Hewson, bassist Robert Keating, guitarist Josh Jenkinson and drummer Ryan McMahon time to refine and reflect on what they had in the bag.
Songs about relationships hitting the skids soon morphed into something that addressed more complex widespread issues. Listening to Inhaler’s debut album is a bit like being hit round the head by the energy of The Clash, combined with the catchy new wave pop sensibility of The Cars and electronic wizardry of Factory Records royalty in one fell swoop.
Inhaler, whose songs deal with social issues during challenging times, are wrapped up in a sound that they very much own. It Won’t Always Be Like This lives up to the expectation heaped on it in much the same way as gutsy, groundbreaking debut albums by The Clash, Oasis or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club did.
words DAVID NOBAKHT
MAYHEM
Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando (Century Media)
A band like Mayhem, which is to say one of the most gamechangingly extreme bands ever, are always going to have a certain sector of their audience which scoffs kvltishly at their very audacity to carry on existing. Thirty-five years ago the group were pimply Norwegian nihilists inventing a genre (that’s black metal, for those struggling to keep up), later on they would – notoriously – count both murderers and the murdered in their ranks, and now they’re middle-aged, a metal institution and hailing the past via a seven-song mini-album featuring four vintage punk covers.
Atilla Csihar et al are of course correct to point out the influence of punk and hardcore’s speed-pioneers on extreme metal, but I wish there was a bit more of them streaking through these takes on Discharge, the Dead Kennedys, the Ramones and Rudimentary Peni. Still, the latter’s Only Death chimes nicely with Mayhem’s own worldbuilding gothic strangeness, and early vocalist Maniac, guesting on Ramones classic Commando, is on impressive form. Of the three original songs here, two were previously released as bonus tracks on 2019 Mayhem album Daemon; one actual newie, Voces Ab Alta, is actually a humdinger, churning and grandiose with Csihar stirringly beastly on the mic.
words NOEL GARDNER
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