The West Country. Cider, rolling hills and barely suppressed murderous rage. Henry Blacker distill that all down on ‘Summer Tombs’ which has come along after barely more than a year since their first effort. That might not give much opportunity for musical development, but these guys know what they are doing (being as they are alumni of Hey Colossus, Reigns, PJ Harvey and Spleen) and they pretty much nailed it first time round anyway. Here we have another half hour of stripped-down, crunchy, gloomy and immensely satisfying grungy riff rock with tinges of doomy melancholy. Tim Farthing is absolutely one of this country’s most criminally underrated guitar manglers, wringing understated but always inventive forms from his SG while within the confines of a rock-trio setup, and his vocals often threaten to reveal the true unhinged-ness bubbling away beneath all things. Favourite jam is ‘Million Acre Fire’, a total waltz time joy with riffs you could plug the Wookey Hole Cave with. Have I said “riff” enough times?
