Tournament - Years Old - LP (2009)

Labels: Forcefield
Review by: Alex Deller

Woah, this big bastard came totally of the blue and whumped me upside the head! This hairy bunch peddle an awesome line in thick, gnarly, jagged-edged rock music that first and foremost calls upon the likes of Karp whilst also dabbling in dissonant Drive Like Jehu hooks and the kind of heavy, rumbling bass grooves last heard thrumming from the mighty amps of Shotmaker and their various Spectra Sonic Sound affiliates. Each of the ten songs gouges an instantly-recognisable hole in yer brain, yet the whole thing sits comfortably together as a thirty-minute bludgeon that’s restlessly varied, immensely heavy and somehow memorably tuneful with it. Awesome, in a word, and one of the year’s nicest surprises so far.