After a series of excellent EPs, Dublin’s Hubert Selby Jr. Infants grace us with a full-length album and it is, frankly, a right royal shitkicker.
To my mind they occupy a very specific place: that weird no man’s land where noise-rock, grunge and post-hardcore bands dipped their toe in waters that were unashamedly poppy. Acts that spring to mind are (deep breath) Jawbox, Arcwelder, Wool, Swervedriver and Sugar: killer bands all, and also ones capable of fusing crunchy punk rock punch with a knack for bleary earworms.
The riffs here careen wildly, fuzz-bashed things that surge wildly this way and that but aren’t afraid to drop away and make space when the moment so demands. The vocals snap between grumpy, disconsolate, desperate and occasionally quite joyful, ensuring the band are capable of sanely mixing things up on a three-track run like ‘Il Bambino Spettrale’, ‘Jail Money’ and ‘Columbo’ which, somehow, takes in late night noir croon, spiky punk blasting and a heat-warped version of Silkworm gone grungegaze.