Labels: Boss Tuneage – Kong Tiki
Review by: Alex Deller
Here’s some melodic hardcore that’s so good it’s bonkers. The lead track, ‘Nocturnally Yours’, rolls out the traps with a crisp, precise guitar sound and Katja Osvold’s (yep, her from the much-missed Life… But How To Live It?) subtly belligerent vocals, the whole thing gradually building up a breathtaking head of steam to the point where things’re genuinely exciting. Elsewhere, ‘(Your) Hidden Agenda (Is So Obvious)’ represents a brisk burst of melodic angst while ‘Glass House’ is a mid-paced number which takes up the whole b-side and lets those vocals soar before ending on some lightweight “” albeit effective “” 90s-style chuggery. In terms of comparisons it’s a curiously mixed bag, variously making me think of 90s passion and earnestness, contemporary Norwegian acts like Danger!Man or Strike A Match and, bizarrely, the idea of Turbonegro being shorn of their lewdness and played at 45rpm rather than 33. All in all that means things are pretty damn great, making Castro one of the pleasanter punk rock surprises I’ve had in recent months – check ’em out!