Got this a while back with a pile of stuff, and despite playing it a fair few times things never really clicked. Fast forward however many months later, and a pal’s recommendation persuaded me to leave the house for their matinee gig at New River Studios. To cut a dull story short: their brief, fiery set bowled me over, and prompted me to dig this out for reappraisal.
While the record certainly doesn’t convey the manic, urgent, over-the-top energy and power of the band live, it’s certainly more than the so-so punk thing I first chalked it up as. The chorus-blasted guitars stay just the right side of comprehensible, locking together and providing a solid base for Anna Cataldo’s breathless, commanding vocals. Things really seem to gel on the record’s second side, with standouts ‘Walk In Line’ and ‘Dirt On Your Chest’ lodging in your brain while they sandblast your face, providing – for me at least – a sort of decoder ring that’s ultimately meant repeat listens to the point of dizziness and disorientation.