That’s right my little muffins, here we have the new album from the JCQ! No not the Joint Council for Qualifications you foolish wee beans – it’s the new moniker for the schiztastic James Cleaver Quintet, and the first thing that happened upon pressing play on ‘Mechanical Young’ was for my mind to shoot back to that first listen to A Wilhelm Scream’s minor masterpiece. For anyone who’s left cold by that rather reductive description, think Rolo Tomassi, playing tiddlywinks with Pulled Apart By Horses, while a drunk jazz fusion group keeps score. The drums are always a-gallop, the guitars so off-kilter it could offend a traditional Scottish dress shop, but with this new album the foot has been slammed onto the accelerator.

Frontman, Jack Swagger (yes, seriously – and anyone who doesn’t know why that’s amusing is a better person than I – you’re better off not knowing [it's a wrestling reference, dudes -ed]), manages something that many of the other schizo-punk-style bands don’t seem to be able to with any great conviction, he holds the entire album together with a silky smooth vocal that’s as comfortable with a melody as it is with an aggressive yowl. ‘Aspidistra’ is a haunting and easy-listen, ‘Love’s No Good’ could be at home on a dance playlist, while the syth-happy album opener ‘Ghosts Diffuse’ let’s Jack scream at us like we’ve just written a rude word on the wall with our crayons.

With such an eclectic mix on display, often within the limits of a single track, this album might not immediately find the love it deserves. While there’s definitely something for everyone that also means that there’s stuff here many peeps might have a knee-jerk sour puss response to. But those people will be doing themselves and The JCQ a disservice because this album deserves your attention, it deserves your brother’s and sister’s attention, it deserves your nan’s attention, and your nan’s cat’s attention too.

Few bands can do diversity like this and still have bags of charm oozing through the seamless amalgamation of styles and sounds. So listen to your Uncy Soundsphere magazine and go and check these bonkers Brits out, they won’t disappoint.

And perhaps most importantly – when I wrote “wellies” in the first paragraph, it autocorrected to “willies” – heh heh.

The question of how to follow up such a spectacular album was no doubt a difficult one for the band to ponder. There was talk of a “pop” album, which was (perhaps mercifully) scrapped soon after, with the band’s leader Jack Barnett commenting to the NME that “I’ve realised I actually hate pop music. Most people don’t like good music so there’s no point trying to do something for them.” Instead, the new album seems to explore a different side to the multi-faceted, orchestrally influenced music of their previous record – on top of this, the band have recruited Portuguese Fado/Jazz singer Elisa Rodrigues to provide a softer counterpoint to Barnett’s vocals. Where ‘Hidden’ enraptured its listeners with bombast and fanfare, ‘Field Of Reeds’ is more calm and restrained. But make no mistake, this is a record that absolutely benefits from giving it your undivided attention – it just doesn’t demand it as forcefully.

Opener ‘This Guy’s In Love With You’ underscores that point, beginning with little more than two repeated piano chords and a distant vocal that sounds like someone outside your window absent-mindedly singing along to the song’s namesake (a 1968 Burt Bacharach/Hal Davis composition that was originally recorded by Herb Alpert). The gentle, slightly melancholy tone of the song could be evocative of many things – a peaceful summer’s day, a tranquil patch of countryside, a new beginning, perhaps a forgotten love. But the meaning is never intended to be spelt out explicitly – this is the kind of record where the listener is asked to draw their own conclusions.

A regimented, yet simultaneously off-kilter piano riff marks the beginning of ‘Fragment Two’, which is perhaps as close as the record gets to a conventional song – not that it’s a standard verse/chorus/verse piece of pop music by any stretch of the imagination. It’s more of a musical journey, with the song slowly but implacably marching forward as different musical elements appear, then disappear – faintly sinister vocals (“there is something there” is a repeated motif), string flourishes, trumpet fanfare, the sound of glass smashing, and some utterly exquisite percussion. Indeed, while George Barnett’s drumming was often the driving force behind ‘Hidden’, the decision to rein him in here is not as foolhardy as it might seem – it allows for a more subtle, expressive style that almost feels improvisational despite no doubt having been meticulously planned by his twin brother.

By contrast to ‘Fragment Two’s calmly assured nature, ‘The Light In Your Name’ feels tentative at first, almost as if its component parts are afraid to tread on each other – Barnett’s vocal in particular feels subdued and hazy, deliberately understating its own importance to the composition. The song steadily grows in confidence and complexity, however, eventually reaching a bold crescendo once a thunderous drumbeat kicks in. Then all of a sudden, there’s near-silence, and nothing but the solitary string note that underpins the entire song remains – reminding you that it’s been present the entire time.

The second trio of songs on the album is led by ‘V (Island Song)’, a sprawling, 9-minute piece that manages to avoid being unwieldy thanks to a keen awareness of melody. Whether played dramatically on pianos, sung by choral voices, or expressed by barely-audible synths, the song’s melody morphs and changes subtly, while some refined drumming keeps everything moving at exactly the right pace. ‘Spiral’, on the other hand, uses some familiar elements – a sinister children’s choir, swelling brass, haunting woodwind motifs – to create something that’s very reminiscent of ‘Hidden’. However, the judicious sacrifice of that album’s powerful percussion lends the track its own distinct atmosphere – the sort of quiet desolation that the band haven’t really touched on before now.

The suite is ended by one of the record’s most immediately appealing highlights. ‘Organ Eternal’ is utterly mesmerising thanks to the looping synth line that forms the backbone of the song – it really is a thing of pure, simple beauty. So much so, in fact, that you immediately sit up and take notice when something else steps in to break the reverie, whether it be Barnett’s murmured vocals or the orchestral surge that leads the song towards its climax. Indeed, it’s this latter facet of the song that takes it to truly transportive levels, stirring up your emotions before fading away in a blissful trance.

Changing the record’s pace once again, ‘Nothing Else’ takes the avant-garde classical influences present on ‘Hidden’ to their logical extreme, being a song that truly feels like it was composed rather than simply written. Bookending the moving classical instrumentation that makes up the majority of the track are two brief stanzas that are equally affecting. “I pray that just for a minute/real life and dreaming swap places,” pines Rodrigues, hoping for the impossible but making you believe that it could actually happen, if only for a moment.

‘Nothing Else’ flows seamlessly into ‘Dream’, and its a cappella opening seems very appropriate for the only song on the record that really feels led by its vocal. It’s here that Rodrigues really comes to the fore, her voice guiding the listener through an ambient, spacious landscape. Album-closer ‘Field Of Reeds’ changes the mood again by treating the voice as a mostly abstract concept, with the song’s choral backdrop only briefly interspersed by moments of relative clarity from Barnett. There’s a sense of serenity that permeates this final song, with any tension or fear that may have been present in the previous 45 minutes of music simply melting away.

As a collection of songs that don’t exactly give up their charms easily, ‘Field Of Reeds’ isn’t a record that will please everyone – but that much was clear from the start. However, with repeated listens, different facets of each song will begin to creep into your consciousness, with connections between these seemingly disparate pieces of music forming until the album begins to make sense as a unified whole. Ultimately, some may deem it not worth their time to persist with, which is perhaps understandable but definitely a shame – as anyone who lets ‘Field Of Reeds’ truly work its way into their mind will find that it’s an experience of astounding ambition and incredible depth.

For a band oft name-checked by the nu-metal “Scuzz generation”, ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’ – despite its truly woeful title – actually forgoes the expected nostalgia trip and tries its upmost to be a creative and forward-looking rock record. The induction of singer William DuVall in 2009 provided an exciting new foil for mastermind and songwriter Cantrell, boasting a more expressive vocal range than his predecessor. It all sounds jolly good, doesn’t it? The underlying problem with the songs here is their protracted lengths. The title track limps across the finish line after six and a half minutes, a shame, since its politicised lyrical direction actually holds up, and the musical arrangement lend to an “anything could happen” atmosphere.

Unfortunately, that happening never truly arrives, and the song’s impact is lost with each passing minute. Alice still prove themselves as masterful craftsmen with lead single ‘Stone’, however. The rhythmic displacement in that central guitar riff subtly coils itself around you before breaking into a barely-there, yet instantly singable chorus. Slowly metamorphosing throughout the song and dragging the beat in a way that only Tony Iommi could do better, it is an engaging listen. ‘Voices’ and ‘Low Ceiling’ continue in a similar vein, with the latter taking an interesting left-turn during the bridge before giving way to a pained guitar solo from Cantrell. The same cannot be said for the likes of the unashamedly anthemic ‘Scalpel’ – a strong lighter-waving favourite brimming with potential, it veers dangerously close to FM radio rock without any hint of irony.

While ‘The Devil put Dinosaurs Here’ may not be the return to form fans hope for, it is not a bad album either. It features some strong material and the usual brace of the twisted rhythmic pulses that were deployed so effectively during the band’s heyday. Even when things go off the boil with the trudging ‘Hung On A Hook’, there is still enough personality to prevent you from fast-forwarding. Alice In Chains certainly prove Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) right – middle-age doesn’t always subdue angst.

On to the action then, and we get introduced to Bloom, a band that put together some very pleasing and tasteful shoegaze-tinged rock, that sets the tone for a great mixed bag of sounds. On a similar note, after arriving back from a suitably filling pub lunch we catch Swimming Lessons, whose mastermind Ben Lewis is fast becoming a Yorkshire music legend in his own right due to a great work ethic and intelligent writing. He crafts some evocative and challenging waves of sound that would fit most bills within the alt-indie scene – subtle electronic beats run over some impressive guitar work for cracking results.

Following up, we had the pleasure of exploring the now globally recognised From The Kites Of San Quentin. This Manchester-based three-piece create a quite ethereal sound, and while it seems confused in parts (the seductive vocal tones sometimes clash too greatly with the pace of the electronic beats in the live arena), the overall impact is satisfying, and on record the band seems to have everything together. Indeed Alison Carney has some of the best vocals we’ve heard in recent memory, and the spacey backing sounds on their own are nearly always hypnotic. One thing we wonder though, as this band are clearly unafraid of experimentation, what could live drums do to take the show to the next level?

Next up though, we had our surprise of the night, and if we weren’t anticipating HEALTH’s set so much, they would’ve stolen the show. Two Trick Horse are insanely good, let’s just get that right out there. Mixing up the intensity of early Queens Of The Stone Age-meets-At The Drive-In-meets…err, Reuben. Ahh man, it’s just really good, ‘kay? One of the best bands we’ll see all year for sure. So impressed – brilliant breakdowns, fantastic stage presence and anthemic tunes. Win. Keep up the awesome work lads.

Another wonderful new discovery for our fine selves (Paul Faller was in attendance on our behalf too…so, that last statement works…he’s got mint hair) was Weird Era. This quirky Manchvegas (Manchester) lot have some brilliant well-crafted tunes that pull a sizeable crowd tonight; it’s the type of spacey-grungey-alt-rock-MBV-meets-Pixies-meets-Swervedriver that we really like. There’s no pretence here, just good musicianship and obvious drive. This band has a lot to be proud of, and if they keep getting on bills like this, they should be on bigger tours in no time.

Due to Visa/Passport and general travel issues, we were pretty sad that Doldrums couldn’t make this one, as their sound makes us particularly happy. Here’s some songs by them, so you can hear what they do if you haven’t already…

And what of HEALTH? Well, it’s just f*****g noise isn’t it? Good bloody noise though. From start to finish on this night (bar some lengthy sound issues) the US band destroy our ears with their raw and ferocious electro-powered lashings. The singles, ‘USA Boys’ and ‘We Are Water’ provide the crowd with some dance-fodder and tracks like ‘Death +’ (with its breakbeat drums – we love the dual drums by the way…more bands should do this! Drums everywhere!) are equally as appealing and energy-fuelled. All in all, this was one trippy set, and that is of course the way this band likes it. We’d have loved to see this band on a bigger stage with the likes of NIN though, as a showcase of this intensity (arguably) is best appreciated on a bigger stage. If you get a chance to see this lot at a festival or something, be prepared to have your lobes blown, and be prepared to like it. After the success of the Max Payne 3 soundtrack last year, we cannot wait to see what the band comes up with next.

We did actually interview the band last year, so we’ll leave that here…

The EP is split into three new tracks, two remixes and an acoustic track. First up is ‘Fruit From The Lie’ which opens things up quietly, with vocalist Yap repeating the typically, politically-tinged lyrics over the guitars and a layer of ambience, until things rise into a chaotic guitar led chorus that’s reminiscent of the likes of Earthtone9 and OMS’s earlier work on ‘Buy Now…Saved Later’.

From there on nothing really changes until things die down and the opening noise of ‘Pandemic Schizophrenia’ kicks in. The track itself properly takes off when things speed up about a minute in. The vocals take centre stage here, with the heavily effected repetition of the songs title forming the basis of the chorus. Things calm down again, and it’s here that this comeback starts to feel alive. First we’re in the realm of noise, circling sounds and soft whispers of sampled female vocals, but then the clarion call comes in the form of a warning that we can “expect more pandemonium, global meltdown, more lies and more war” promptly followed by storming drums, guitars and Yap’s trademark vocals rising above the chaos of the music.

After ‘Fruit From The Lie’ you could be forgiven for thinking that things haven’t really changed too much, and that perhaps this release would prove to be nothing more than a testing of the waters, but as we get further into the EP, the sound is here, and as ‘You So Much As Move’ starts up, things start to come together beautifully. The track switches from the calm of downtempo verses to choruses topped off with Yap’s simple but telling vocals stating that “I believe in none of the above” and through to a melodic bridge that reminds of Hed PE’s earlier work on ‘Blackout’.

Next up we get a dancefloor remix of ‘Fruit From The Lie’ by Ben Hurd. This track would be another unremarkable Dubstep remix if not for the attention paid to the vocals which in places reminds us of the Coil/Danny Hyde remix of ‘Gave Up’ by Nine Inch Nails, which lends a kind of circuit bent insanity to this otherwise mundane mix.

Next up, the Massimo Fiocco remix of ‘You So Much As Move’, meanwhile starts things with a re-imagined version of the opening guitar line but this time on synth. The percussion builds along with the heavy electro bass line until vocals and a half-step beat comes in, and right here is where this remix excels. The track lends itself to this darker electro sound brilliantly. Keeping a similar structure to the original, the track bounces from downtempo segments filled with atmosphere to striking choruses, heavy on bass and beat, with the vocals remaining the only original part used. It’s dark and heavy – and it just works.

The last track, ‘Early Morning’, is an acoustic number, but with an interesting bit of swing percussion beneath the guitars, vocals and violin. Yap shows here that he’s got much more to offer than just shouting political statements over metal, and isn’t above writing an emotional, thoughtful piece of music that wouldn’t be out of place alongside Snot’s ‘Angel’s Son’. The lyrics come across sincere and personal, and a fine statement to the collective thought of the world as it is today. A perfect closure for the CD.

The sound on offer on ‘Fragmented Armageddon’ is tighter and more polished than the band’s earlier releases, there is an evident growth throughout the EP, and though we’ve heard much of this before, there is just something right about it, something right about the sounds on offer and with the right blends of genre. And with the interesting and wholly relevant recent revelations about governments abusing personal information, and their cloak and dagger approach to data handling, it seems to be the perfect time for this politically charged British rap-metal leviathan to resurface to a world not so different to before – but in need of a guiding light.

Moving on from 2010′s ‘Beautiful Losers’ this record comes across as a lot heavier, and darker in places. The first album was hard-hitting and powerful, while this is emotive and melodic. Some songs here will soundtrack your best days and nights (‘Azan’ and ‘Acrobatica’), and others will lift you during your darkest moments and longest days (‘Turn Around’ and ‘Don’t Waste Your Life Away’).

Real change for this band came when Paul Mullen, of post-hardcore outfit Yourcodenameis:Milo, joined Losers in October 2010; and on the back of the on-spec created, drum-hinged and guitar-lashed ‘Half Built House. With this effort, new Losers came into being. Enter less dance, more guitar-ground angst and lyrics to match; haunting that waste-ground of the human condition – we can’t break those bad habits and we always hurt the ones we love.

Losers’ new offering can be referenced as “dance-rock” or “electro-rock”; but we believe that Losers are purely and simply the leaders of “crossover” music in the UK. With a variety of sounds on the album from the elemental guitar and percussion roar and retreat of ‘Azan’ to the energetic electro beats (and yes, frantic pleading) of ‘Don’t Waste Your Life Away’, the record constantly shifts in pace and tone – it’s potentially the most energising record that you’re going to hear this year.  As Eddy shares on the band website – “this is a very emotional record”, – and like our own emotions it runs across a spectrum and defies neat, convenient definition.

Pre-release, ‘And So…’ was working with a very positive reputation; forged on the back of comprehensive festival performances (The Secret Garden Party, Rockness, Latitude, to name a few) and buckling under praise and collaborative interest from industry heroes DJ Shadow, Gary Numan and James Lavelle (UNKLE).

Whether the sound is “dance-rock”, “industrial”, or simply “electronic” is unimportant.  Mixed by Ivor Novello-winning keyboard player Gem Godfrey, the album is phenomenally produced from beginning to end; be it the heavy fatalistic flagellation of ‘DNA’ to the striding powerful beat-ridden ‘Think You’.

‘…And So…’ is released (or to quote Temple-Morris, “placed in the hands of you the listener”) on less than conventional PledgeMusic.  Go there (link below), and along with the full album, there are a plethora of other opportunities – purchase Tom’s first guitar, buy personal DJ sets, or, er a personal cooking lesson…yeah! All in aid of funding recording and supporting the music, and in part, The British Tinnitus Association.

So then, the word is indeed epic; an emotionally gruelling, but promising-to-turn-out-great-in-the-end start for the new (and improved) Losers. This is sure to be one of our major favourites from 2013.

You can Pledge to support the band here.

Debut single ‘Exit Wound’ is perhaps what you might expect a metal artist going into electronica to produce – a dark slice of industrial music with a techno pulse, featuring suitably creepy vocals from The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato. Before that, ‘Antigalactic’ opens the album with a thudding beat and pulsating synths, with clattering drums breaking things up a little – ultimately though, it sounds like a solid but not particularly innovative industrial floor-filler.

There’s more than just seedy industrial influences present here though. ‘The Way’ injects a hefty dose of New York cool into proceedings, thanks to sweet, breathy vocals from Deidre Muro and a funky baseline from former !!! and LCD Soundsystem member Tyler Pope. The end result is a sleek electro-pop anthem that’s as well-suited to soundtracking Balearic sunsets as it is to getting bodies moving in a sweaty basement club. Elsewhere, ‘Internal’ sees them borrowing from Crystal Castles’ playbook thanks to synths that hark back to retro video games, giving the track a sinister, yet somehow slightly playful feel. Mixhell also have a habit of starting out with deceptively simple structures which gradually become intriguing, multi-layered compositions by the time they reach their end – both ‘Mind Drop’ and ‘The Edge’ pull off this trick pretty well.

It’s interesting to note that the live percussion rarely overpowers Mixhell’s music – instead, it compliments it by creating a more spacious sound. ‘Once Again’ is a great example of this – I’m sure it would have been quite straightforward to use a drum machine here, but the live drums add a little warmth and humanity to proceedings. ‘White Ropes’ is perhaps the most overtly percussive track on the record, starting with a thundering drumbeat that underpins the entire song, with juddering synths floating in and out as the track progresses. Add the driving, distorted baseline that arguably doesn’t get enough airtime, and you’ve got the strongest evidence yet that Mixhell would make a considerable live force.

In fact, if there’s one nagging problem with ‘Spaces’, it’s that it makes Mixhell seem like they’d be much more impressive in the live arena. That’s not to criticise the use of live percussion on the record – there’s just a feeling in my mind that watching Cavalera perform on stage would add an extra dimension to these songs. As it stands, ‘Spaces’ is a good record, but one that has the potential to become something excellent when witnessed in the flesh.

In a career spanning nearly two decades, the band went through a series of member changes and eventually split, and yet true to their style, they refuse to be stopped. They are currently promoting the new album, and touring the US and Europe with Gallows. And the band are sitting on a massive bombshell; ‘While A Nation Sleeps’ is a mega return to form, an amalgamation of one of the most memorable eras in hardcore history and brutal, iconic new material.

The album is a dramatic, thorough release; a crucial example of a band who look to innovate, f*** that, constantly redefine their sound. The eerie sampling, the guttural backgrounds to the tracks, the ripped and monstrous vocals of Nathan Gray. This is an album that wants to grab you by the face and drag you out of your comfort zone. It’s audacious, and ambitious, and one thing the band do right is maintaining a balance between thundering hardcore, and memorable classic. The album is reminiscent of the good old days, of bands whose output was not only important, but fundamental. It can be toxic, sickening even, but it is energetic and dynamic, and has potential to raise the standard as one of BoySetsFire’s most important and enjoyable albums to date.

The opening track ’Closure’ is a powerful kickstart to the album, and is not only super sing-a-long worthy yet brings on the realisation that this is an important album. The album has a lot of tracks that could be the song, the most memorable and impressive of the bunch, and this makes them difficult to compare. ‘Everything Went Black’ is an acid trip/knifefight of a tune, disorienting and savage and brilliant, ‘Heads Will Roll’ is a personal favourite, not just a persistent and beautiful song but a reminder that BoySetsFire are the best at what they do.

Melodic and violent in equal measure, the new album ‘While a Nation Sleeps’ is an amazing collection and a necessity to any hardcore fans, new or old.

There’s all sorts of stuff going on here. There’s heavy touches of the sixties and seventies – The Rolling Stones et al – combined with modern additions that we hear in such tracks as ‘The Pulse’, which stays behind the 2000 fence, but threatens to transition over into the indie of today. It’s all over the place, with soft slow tracks and upbeat energetic ones to compliment them.

The first two tunes have many traits of the golden years of rock, although they completely contrast each other. ‘Liar Liar’ gives us the energy while ‘Lonely Crusade’ provides subdued emotions. This one could be a slow burner for some, but there’s plenty to be enjoyed, it’s a well-paced track with some skilled work from Laura Petracca who knows just when to switch the beat.

‘Crying’ is where the emotion really kicks in, the tone of the vocals portrays the feeling perfectly, the soft keyboards towards the end a great addition to this. And with ‘Little Curse’ there’s speed, speed, speed! It begins with a jittery electronic sound and launches into fast drum beat and screams. You can just feel the frustration! As the shortest track on the album, it’s just the right length. And yes, sh** does indeed happen.

Faded drums and acoustic, with a dominating lead follows with ‘Nowhere To Run’. It builds thicker and thicker until the chorus kicks in, and it’s just as strong as the others. This one is driven solely by the raw instruments, in contrast to ‘The Bull Rides Tonight’ that starts with an eighties style electronic keyboard, and leads to a gentle combo of galloping drums and bass, and towards the end you’re confronted with some powerful screams. Speed takes the stage again with ‘Gates Of Hell’, which has a strong punk vibe, and a nice solo, followed by, in this listener’s opinion at least, the two most powerful tracks on the disc, the strong and heartfelt ‘Ted’s Collision’ and the jumpy and bouncy ‘Priscilla’ which not only gets your head moving, but has some wonderful harmony. It’s feel-good and emotional at the same time. The final track is soft and morose, and compliments its predecessor effectively. The snare drum during the choruses is just as hard hitting as the melody, and the abrupt ending leaves you eager for more.

In conclusion, this is pretty damn good. It’s mostly tame and soft, but it captures the energy where it needs to. The harmony between chord and vocals is spot on, too. Plenty to enjoy, especially for the fans of the oldies!

DP-U have used a conventional style, their alternative rock influences shining through proudly, the songs all bursting at the seams with riffs and drumbeats that make you go, “I know this!!”, and yet still manage to surprise, amaze and encapsulate  - perhaps it’s Bigland’s incredible and distinctive vocals that do it. This is a hyper talented vocalist indeed; he ranges from high pitch in tracks like ‘Arizona Waiting’ and low calmness in ‘White T-Shirt And Jeans’.

DP-U have clearly mastered the craft. There’s simplicity in the satisfying distorted chords. Chords that take surprising turns – just listen as they plummet entire octaves in ‘Summer Gurl’, and how in the same track, they jump into a guttural bounce sure to work a treat in the pits.

It’s pretty damn speedy during the first five tracks, but with tracks six and seven we get to put our climbing gear to one side, stop camp for the night and watch the sun go down, particularly with ‘The Way We Came’, a beautiful track full of acoustics and glorious melody, a tear-jerker for those who tend to truly immerse themselves in music. ‘Draw A Line’ on the other hand is upbeat, one of those that makes you feel damn good about life. It has the most surprises – the mitigated distorted guitars pull you in, you enjoy it thoroughly the way it is, and then – BANG – it kicks off full force. The crash symbols go to town during the choruses, and an addictive riff follows.

The ending brings the tempo down, the final three tracks each have their own offering; ‘Start Again’ has melody in the perfect places, ‘Lip Hook Kiss’ has both that, and an undisputed heaviness – the monster riff halfway through proves it – and the title track has a methodical steadiness and a catchy chorus – which is simply the title being serenaded again and again – that stays with you long after the final drum beat.

Once it ends, it’s near impossible to listen to something else. This album leaves too much of an impression, and not just for the music aficionados. DP-U’s influences don’t need mentioning, those are obvious, but the band has their own effective style – their unique mountain. Give it a go. There’s one hell of a view at the top of it.