This is one of those records where the various elements seem rather off, but, once combined, they cohere in unique and unexpected ways. Basslines thunk and lurk, while the singer’s clogged up bark recalls some kind of ugly, gnarled Choke/Brannon hybrid. The guitars, meanwhile, are frantic and scrabbly but have had their sharp edges caked in a layer of squelchy FX – something that heightens the sense of mania rather than detracts from it.
The results are satisfyingly primal but at the same time strangely artful: equal parts, tendon-straining stomp, arcane mutterings and the scuttling, ratbag aggravations of early Tar Babies or Saccharine Trust.
It’s slippery and fights you every step of the way as you try to grapple with it, but for anyone drawn to punk rock’s odder and more atypical quarters ‘Loving, Joyful and Free’ stands as a prime slice of weapons-grade weird shit.