Well, thank fuck for this. An album that exceeds expectations. NO TRIGGER have absolutely nailed it with ‘Tycoon’. Within seconds of pressing play, ‘Maple Boy’ grabs you firmly by the nuts, and it’s not until ‘Turn In My Throat’ closes the album half an hour later that they’re finally released.
There’s elements of everyone from PROPAGANDHI to SET YOUR GOALS via DILLINGER FOUR, and the perfect balance of pace, grit and melody makes ‘Tycoon’ an album that ticks all the right boxes. It’s not often that you can fall in love with a record on first listen, but NO TRIGGER have put together something deserving of all the praise that it’s bound to receive.
Each track on would be a standout on any other record, but for once it’s brilliant to be stuck for a highlight. For the sake of argument, our favourite bits are the middle 8 of ‘Turn In My Throat’, the sheer pace with which ‘Windmill and Watertower’ arrives, and the bit about 50 seconds into ‘New Brains’ where the best non-vocal driven 30 seconds of the album can be found. Each new listen brings something new to like until every word is memorised, and it’ll take 10 incredible albums to shift this from our top 10 of 2012.
‘Tycoon’ is an album that reaffirms faith in what can sometimes feel like a tired and predictable genre, and should make even the most jaded punk remember why they gave a shit in the first place. An instant classic.
TOM AYLOTT