The twin punch of their debut ‘Speed Kills’ and ‘The Mutt’s Nuts’, released in quick succession during those dark pandemic years, got tongues-a-wagging at what could become the latest English punk band to emerge from the dive clubs. Led by enigmatic frontman Charlie ‘Chubby’ Manning-Walker, “the Gang” snarled about inequality, scumbag landlords and general shite-ness of a 21st century Tory-plagued Britain.

A whirlwind recording cycle followed by raucous shows, cancelled US tours and general burnout resulted in the dissolving of this iteration of the Gang but Manning-Walker has pressed on. While the faces behind the mustachioed frontman on stage have changed, his vision has remained laser-focused.

Manning-Walker does the lot on their third record ‘And Then There Was…’, writing and performing the entirety of this 16-track epic. While Chubby’s first two records were kick-the-door-off-its-hinges punk, this is a much more refined effort, taking inspiration from a myriad of genres from rock and roll and doo-wop to the familiar treads of hardcore.

The opening two tracks – ‘Neither The Day, Nor The Hour’ and ‘There’s A Devil In The Jukebox’ – pick up where ‘The Mutt’s Nuts’ left off. They’re fast, furious and full of ripping solos but by the time we’re a couple songs, this is where the “newish” Chubby gets up. ‘The Bonnie Banks’ is a bopping, country-inspired love song where Manning-Walker swoons “hold me in your arms as we sway on the banks of the Thames, praying on better days”.

We’re back on familiar ground with the rampaging ‘Anticop’ and ‘Trepanning’ but it’s not until ‘Company I Don’t Want To Keep’ when Manning-Walker whips out the Hammond organ where he starts to flex his creativity. It’s a track that could’ve been plucked out of the 1970s punk heyday, echoing favourites like Dr Feelgood but with the signature snarl that Chubby and the Gang has been known for.

The chugging ‘A Lust For More’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’ has all the hardcore variances of contemporaries Fucked Up while The Ramones-esque ‘To Be Young’ is as close to a made-for-radio track you could ever expect from this band. It’s an excellent two-minute burst romanticising the innocence and ignorance of knowing not a thing about life when you’re a 17-year-old pup.

Manning-Walker has a penchant for ending his records with a poignant ballad. ‘Speed Kills’ had ‘Grenfell Forever’, ‘The Mutt’s Nut’s’ had ‘Life’s Lemons’ and even The Chisel’s ‘Retaliation’ – in which he plays guitar – had ‘Will I Ever See You Again?’ but ‘Cocaine Sunday’ is his opus.

This beautiful, heart-breaking piano-led number sees Manning-Walker channeling his inner Shane MacGowan to produce the most vulnerable song he’s written thus far. It’s the song of the beaten soul at the end of the bar who doesn’t know where his life will turn once he sees the Guinness logo at the bottom of this glass. It’s a stream of consciousness, lamenting on bad choices and lost love, lyrics delivered like a gut punch with each word.

“I’ve always been a criminal I won’t see no pearly gates, careful who you love once they go they ain’t coming back”, Manning-Walker croons as a mournful harmonica bar plays over the trembling piano keys. It’s a stunning ending to a record that has seen Manning-Walker change the conversation around the Chubby and the Gang, it’s a song you never see coming and, if you’re not on guard, will have your tear ducts swelling.

“And Then There Was…” is not the Chubby and the Gang you’ll be expecting, it’s somehow much better than that.

TOM WALSH

The Chicago three-piece have been coming to these shores for almost three decades and a lot of the faces packed inside the famous Ritz ballroom will have been there from the very beginning. Ever since, ‘Stupid Kid’ exploded onto Kerrang! TV screens, this country’s punk scene has been enthralled by Matt Skiba’s penchant for devilish word play and Dan Andriano’s soul-crushing ballads.

Everyone here can pinpoint their favourite Alkaline Trio show whether it be in the sweat stained basements of the nearby university or in the sprawling expanse of a music festival. However, there’s one thing that not many of them can remember – had they ever seen a bad Alkaline Trio show?

Was there ever one that felt a little out-of-step, one where they thought the band were just not feeling it or one where something wasn’t just quite right? The answer is no. This band doesn’t do bad shows and everyone knows that. So much so, that when night one of this tour in Manchester sold out, fans were keen to gobble up tickets for a second show planned for a week prior.

In a weird way, for many here, an Alkaline Trio show is like a warm blanket. Somewhere you know, you’ll be in a room with a bunch of people you’ve met many times before over the past 20 years, belting out the words to a song that depicts a dog having difficulty passing a razorblade.

Tonight will be no different.

Norwegian four-piece Slomosa warm things up with their brand of desert rock. Imagine Queens of the Stone Age riffs but replace the cactus and coyote imagery with frozen lakes and snow-covered fjords and you’re there. It’s a refreshing choice of support act for a show like this instead of the usual paint-by-numbers pop punk band you spend the 30 minutes scrolling through your phone.

However, once Slomosa take their bow, it’s time for the main course. Striding out besuited – a bold move under the increasing heat of the room – Trio meet their adorning public. It’s straight into lead track ‘Hot for Preacher’, fresh from their new record ‘Blood, Hair and Eyeballs’, and we’re off to the races.

It’s a hit-laden set designed to keep even the most diehard Trio fan happy. We’re delving into everything from the lesser-spotted ‘Cringe’, the crowd-pleasers in ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Mr Chainsaw’ to the radio-friendly anthems of ‘Calling All Skeletons’’ and ‘Mercy Me’.

There’s even little gems such as ‘Sadie’ and, arguably one of their best songs, ‘Crawl’. During the latter Andriano drops a few bars of The Smiths’ ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’, a homage to one of his favourite bands that once trod the very same boards as he does tonight.

During the huge closers of ‘Time To Waste’ and, of course, ‘Radio’, the younger fans that have kept tonight’s mosh pit moving all evening climb upon shoulders to croon with their heroes. Those of us with the fading tattoos will forever reminisce about that show in 2000-whatever and now the next generation can talk about this night again and again.

TOM WALSH

That conversation has lingered with Grace for years and provides the inspiration for her third solo record (2018’s ‘Born To Rot’ was under the guise of her ‘Devouring Mothers’ project), a collection of, once again, deeply personal tracks backed by a 50s rock grooves. There are the sprinkling boppy, yet sad, folk songs detailing lonely birthdays, isolation and yearning for a new love.

With full-time duties with her staple band Against Me! firmly on the backburner, Grace has begun the process of unpacking her soul into solo records. While 2020’s ‘Stay Alive’, had tracks originally planned for as-yet-unfinished Against Me! songs, ‘Hole In My Head’ are more of Grace’s journal entries brought to life.

Collaborating with The Drive By Truckers’ bassist Matt Patton, Grace puts a soundtrack to these scribblings. Long-time tour favourite ‘Dysphoria Hoodie’ is an ode to her battered Adidas pullover which acts as a comfort blanket during the days where she just wants the world to swallow her up and has struck a chord with her counterparts in the transgender community. Here, the song is given the polish it has longed for.

‘Birds Talk Too’ was penned following Grace’s final tattoo session by the legendary Japanese artists Gakkin and Kenji Alucky in Amsterdam, detailing her love for the finer things the city has to offer such as “Champagne Haze at Rookies”. It’s a great rock and roll track with a swinging groove and lends itself well to hit straight into ‘Punk Rock in Basements’, a more nostalgic look at the good old days.

Pining for the past glories is not something that usually features in Against Me! or Grace’s writing, it’s usually focused on lamenting a lost love or raging at previous fuck-ups, so this is something quite refreshing. The theme continues in ‘Cuffing Season’, as Grace dreams of new love with a beautiful acoustic folk song. Picturing her potential future beau, she utters: “Unguard your tenderness of heart / Let go of the fear you may fall apart / You don’t have to like the truth to know it’s worth the cost”.

We’re back in more familiar territory on ‘Tacos And Toast’, a classic country-esque track, detailing a miserable birthday. Grace sings of driving aimlessly with nothing to do on a grey day which is meant to be for celebrating, but laying a ghost of a past relationship to rest. She wistfully sings: “I think I’ll get a line tattoo’d through your name / You will be read as a clear mistake”.

Closer ‘Give Up The Ghost’ is another poignant acoustic song where Grace questions whether it’s time to pack all this in and move on from music. On the basis of ‘Hole In My Head’, it’s a sentiment you hope Grace doesn’t lament on for too long as this, once again, shows the honesty, openness and energy that her songwriting can portray, and we’d really miss that.

TOM WALSH

While we all pretended that Matt Skiba singing ‘Aliens Exist’ is something we wanted, it never sat right. That’s no slight on Skiba, he was an ample stand-in for a band that in hindsight probably should’ve taken another hiatus following DeLonge’s departure, but it’s just not blink-182 and his strengths lie better in the darkness of Alkaline Trio.

DeLonge’s return was treated as a prodigal son moment but a question loomed over any potential new material – would it be any good? We’ve already seen what a dysfunctional Blink can produce – the confused mess of 2011’s ‘Neighborhoods’ – and the final record of the Skiba era, 2019’s ‘Nine’, should never have made it out of the recording studio.

The first single ‘Edging’ didn’t help to dispel the nagging feeling that this wasn’t going to be as great as we had hoped. It’s a corny, bopping track with juvenile lyrics and a paint-by-numbers modern day pop punk chorus. If this was to be a taster of what was to come, it didn’t inspire confidence.

However, ‘One More Time’, Blink’s ninth full-length record, is a triumph. It’s everything that everyone who picked up their self-titled album back in 2003 would hope it to be. It’s dark, it’s fast, it’s (by blink-182 standards) mature and it’s an album that only a Tom, Mark and Travis blink-182 could produce.

From the opening riff of ‘Anthem Part 3’ (feeling nostalgic yet?) which flies straight into Travis’ signature ‘Enema of the State’-era double time drumming, it signals that the old Blink you’ve been waiting for all these years are back. DeLonge has left behind the half-arsed vocal performances that plagued ‘Neighborhoods’, and it’s just like it’s the year 2000 all over again.

But just when you thought it couldn’t get anymore Blink, DeLonge makes a masturbation joke heading into the punchy, nouveau pop punk anthem ‘Dance With Me’. It hits all the right sweet spots – it has an earworm of a guitar hook, it’s fast as a bolt and then the chorus’ ‘oles’ will ring around arenas across the globe for the coming years.

The trio lean into the nostalgia factor on this record but while previous efforts have made it sound like a bunch of old guys wishing they were 22 again – and writing to that effect – this is far more reflective. ‘When We Were Young’ is a celebration of their youth but also accepting that those days are in the past while the synth-heavy ‘Blink Wave’ is another tale of young love.

There are sombre moments such as ‘You Don’t Know What You’ve Got’, in which Hoppus details his battle with cancer. Reminiscent of ‘Adam’s Song’, it’s Hoppus’ incredibly personal and heartbreaking realisation that his life could be coming to an end. It’s summed up in the gut wrenching line – “this poison skin you can’t touch, go on without me my love”.

The acoustic title track sees DeLonge and Hoppus provide a frank, honest detail on the band’s relationship, it’s falling apart and how their wish is just do this all again “one more time”. It’s a beautiful tale of the importance of friendship and how they’ve neglected it at certain points. The delicate and poignant chorus of – “Do I have to die to hear you miss me? Do I have to die to hear you say goodbye?” – really hits hard.

In tracks like ‘Terrified’ (a re-worked song originally intended for Box Car Racer), the absolutely thrashing ‘More Than You Know’ and ‘Turpentine’, you have some of the best punk rock songs Blink have written in years. And even in the little interludes (‘Turn This Off!’ and ‘Fuck Face’) they have their own little ode to the hardcore/skater punk scene that brought them to this world in just 30 second blasts.

In the build-up to their return, it felt a little unbelievable, that in an interview with the band, DJ Zane Lowe was eulogising how ‘One More Time’ is “the best album you’ve ever made”. However, while it may not reach the adoration levels of an ‘Enema of the State’ or ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket’ for fans, it is up there with some of the band’s best work.

It’s the sound of three best friends making the music they’ve wanted to make for years. It’s an emotional rollercoaster but it’s a hell of a ride. Lyrically it’s heartfelt, honest and at times brutal with a sprinkling of the cheekiness that makes Blink still Blink while musically it’s fast, hard and well thought out. There is minimal borrowing from other genres and where previous records have seemed confused, ‘One More Time’ couldn’t be more focused.

It not only stands up to the hardcore fans but it is a genuinely good punk rock record and one of the best the genre has seen in a while. After years of waiting and wondering whether we’d ever see the trio on the same stage together again, it feels so good to have the Tom, Mark and Travis Show back.

TOM WALSH

The Southampton horror rockers’ trajectory from shy but innovative punks to the My Chemical Romance for the Snapchat generation, makes their pivot to glam rock superstars seem like complete sense. Their third full-length album, ‘Sanguivore’, is their latest incarnation and brings with it the theatrics, hair metal and über spook that wouldn’t look out of place on an Alice Cooper or Meatloaf record.

Creeper have been emo darlings with their “callous hearts” on 2017’s ‘Eternity, in Your Arms’; they’ve had their ‘Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ moment with 2020’s concept album ‘Sex, Death and the Infinite Void’, and now they’ve arrived at the over-the-top gothic anthemic record of ‘Sanguivore’.

Its name alone, referring  to an animal that nourishes itself on the blood of others, gives an indication in which direction it’s about to take you. We are introduced to ‘Spook’ and ‘Mercy’, the main protagonists of this concept record, and you can tell the way this will go – it’s a pick your poison record which takes elements from kings of the “vampire rock” genre like the Misfits, the Damned, Danzig and Gary Numan. Amidst the darkness, however, this is just a hell of a fun album.

Brace yourself for the rock and roll Nightmare Before Christmas-esque opener, ‘Further Than Forever’, an extended epic which welcomes you into the show. Vocalist Will Gould, now going by the apt title of ‘William von Ghould’ is in his element with his booming signature crooner/Broadway stalwart pipes fitting so perfectly to this cavalcade of camp horror.

If ‘Further Than Forever’ was Creeper’s answer to ‘Bat Out of Hell’, then lead single ‘Cry To Heaven’ will blow every hair metal song out of the water. It’s a rampaging track with the kind of meaty guitar riffs that Mötley Crüe could only dream of, while keyboardist Hannah Greenwood’s vocal performance in the chorus is truly soaring.

Throughout ‘Sanguivore’, Creeper borrow heavily from the goth rock peers such as Misfits, in the thrashing ‘Sacred Blasphemy’ and ‘Chapel Gates’, and Depeche Mode on the synth-heavy ‘Black Heaven’, while you can’t help being transported to the chaos and ridiculousness of an Alice Cooper show on ‘Teenage Sacrifice’. One of the instant earworms of the record, it has everything from the classic horror organs staccatos, the church choir backing vocals and devastatingly ‘80s guitar riffs.

It wouldn’t be a Creeper record if we weren’t treated to a couple crooning classics from Von Ghould. We get to know our main protagonists a little more on ‘The Ballad of Spook & Mercy’, a devious tale of two supernatural killers on the run and, in classic Creeper fashion, it ends on a piano ballad with screamed words “I will love you more than death” (on closer ‘More Than Death’).

Creeper’s ability and ingenuity to constantly reinvent themselves with each album cycle is one of their amazing qualities. ‘Sanguivore’, like what has gone before it, is a huge, ambitious departure yet still retaining the very aspects that make this band so good.

‘Sanguivore’ is at times hilarious, at times heartbreaking, at times quite weird but it’s a work of art and highlights how Creeper continue to surprise even their most loyal fans.

TOM WALSH

Since going solo, Farren has produced an eclectic body of work from his breakout 2016 record ‘Can’t Die’ to the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist in ‘Death Won’t Wait’ and his most successful record to date, 2019’s ‘Born Hot’. Each one had been painstakingly laboured over in the most granular detail which Farren explains made him “miserable, miserable, miserable”.

Having enlisted the help of Impastato, Farren has broken out of his cupboard-sized recording studio and embraced live drumming to produce another impressive record in ‘Doom Singer’. While Farren does exhibit all the traits of a cabaret comedian in a live setting, his songs are far deeper than his jocular live shows would have you believe.

From the opening bars of ‘Bluish’, Farren laments “I don’t remember how to do this” as he strolls into a heartfelt tale of how utterly codependent he is in his own marriage. The decision to bring Impastato on board is instantly validated, the drumming patterns are just a step above everything that he’s accomplished on his previous drum-track heavy records, and the two are just perfectly in-tune with each other.

It feels like a weight has been lifted from Farren’s shoulders and he can take the strong aspects from ‘Born Hot’ and build upon them. He carries the air of a ‘60s crooner but with the backing of an ‘80s synth pop band and that just makes everything sound so fun. And yet, lyrically, it belies an unbearing of his soul.

‘All We Ever’ has him pining for the perfect version of himself and dreaming of everything that he wishes he was. During the title track ‘Doom Singer’ he takes on the role of the prophetic artist watching the world burn around them, like they’d always said would happen. That’s the finite balance in Farren’s songwriting, his whole demeanor seems to be that of the sad clown – smiling while dying behind the eyes.

Sonically, there’s some wonderful doo-wop elements on ‘Only U’ and almost lounge swing in the delightful ‘First Place’. But it’s the powerhouse lead single of ‘Cosmic Leash’ that shows Farren’s departure from his previous work. It’s a huge track driven by Impastato’s thrashing drumbeats and leads with a huge chorus where Farren bellows “change your heart, wait your turn”. It’s another tale of burning heartbreak and a desperate wanting to be loved which resonates so much.

‘Doom Singer’ closes with the agonising ‘Statue Song’. A brooding, gut-wrencher of a song which would play as the background music of a break-up in your favourite indie film. It’s an interesting decision to close on such a gloomy yet atmospheric song but it works incredibly well.

If this is Farren enjoying songwriting then long may it continue. ‘Doom Singer’ is a joyous, beautiful, heartbreaking and poignant record which will leave you laughing and crying. Now go and see him live.

TOM WALSH

These parallels are best avoided when naming your band Shit Present. Luckily for the Bristol-based “emo power pop” trio, they’ve managed to skate over that minefield. Formed from the remnants of Gnarwolves and Great Cynics, Shit Present started in strong style with their first two EPs – ‘Shit Present’ (2015) and Misery + Disaster (2016) – grappling tough topics of depression and anxiety, wrapping them up in brutal lyrics and lethal hooks.

Six years on – including three years of writer’s block – they present their debut LP, ‘What Still Gets Me’ and those intervening years have seen their landscape shift. Rather than picking up where the EPs left off, which carried the style and sound of bands such as Cayetana and Remember Sports, they beefed up the guitars, amped up production and got a little heavier.

‘What Still Gets Me’ is front person and songwriter Iona Cairns baring all. There are no pulled punches as she revisits the feelings of loneliness, confusion and anxiety but it is far from being a dark album. Of course, there are heavier subject matters such as dangerous men claiming to be anything but (title track ‘What Still Gets Me’), where she’s joined by Camp Cope’s Georgia McDonald which delivers a powerful call to arms.

In ‘Unravelling’, Cairns and guitarist Thom Weeks play conflicting voices in the same head in a riotous tale of confronting your demons. There is a prevailing sense of defiance throughout ‘What Still Gets Me’ as Cairns methodically paints a picture, telling the listener: whatever you’re up against, you can get through it.

Shit Present have also managed to step out of the scratchy DIY EP sound and created something bolder. Tracks such as ‘Beyond Tonight’ and ‘Fuck It’ provide instant hooks with snappy melodies backed up with delicious harmonies and huge choruses. There is the acoustic ballad of ‘Too Into It’, which talks of dealing with those friends whose insecurities are consuming them, while opener ‘Cram The Page’ is an ode to embracing your vulnerabilities.

The double header of ‘Ever After’ – a lovely kind of “fuck it” song where Cairns proclaims “I don’t believe in happy ever after / I don’t believe that it will all be fine / I don’t believe to look on the bright side / I don’t believe in it taking time – and ‘Talking About The Rain’ are great bookends for this record.

The latter is the true highlight of ‘What Still Gets Me’. Cairns croons “what’s the point in talking about anything / when you’ve made your mind up about what I bring” as she takes a cutting swipe at someone that’s put her down. It’s the kind of energy you summon where you’ve simply had enough and want to explode, and in an in-keeping style the track booms into screaming life, closing out the record with a fitting guitar solo.

It’s a poignant end to a record that wants to say “it’s okay to be angry”. For a band, there’s a lot to be said for taking a step back, having time to refresh and think about your next point of attack. In the case of Shit Present, it’s delivered a statement of a debut album.

TOM WALSH

The band also took a more considered approach to the writing of this record. While 2019’s ‘Wasted Energy’ was written in the midst of a packed touring schedule and thrashed out in the studio within a week, they took their time with ‘Endless Motion’. The poppy elements of ‘Wasted Energy’ have been scrubbed away leaving a darker, broodier sound, which suits lead singer Natalie Foster’s vocal style down to the ground.

There’s a bite with every syllable Foster spits out. Her rage is barely contained in ‘Untitled Wildlife’, a song about the seemingly annual Australian bushfires and growing effects of climate change which have been ravaging the country. She screams out, in an almost exasperated tone, “this sunburnt country is being burnt down to the ground”.

It’s clear that the extended songwriting process has worked well. There’s a lot more layers to each track, the intricacy of the structures and the production all have the hallmarks of a more thought out approach. While the chaotic nature of writing songs in the back of a van worked wonders ‘Wasted Energy’, it shows the maturity and ambition of a band to know when to take a step back and assess how to do things differently.

The lead singles of ‘Eugene’ and ‘Cancelled’ show the contrasting sides of Press Club. It’s almost like the evolution of the band within two tracks. While ‘Eugene’ picks up where ‘Wasted Energy’ left off with a poppy lick and big chorus, ‘Cancelled’ showcases the band’s newer, darker sound. The latter is a big, booming track which flits between raucous choruses and stripped back intricate guitar work.

Another highlight of ‘Endless Motion’ is the wonderfully constructed ‘Afraid of Everything’, a tender tale of vulnerability. Like ‘Cancelled’ it switches effortlessly from the loud and quiet as Foster talks her way through the verses before building to crashing choruses. It’s the kind of song that really tugs at the heartstrings and will stay with you long after the record comes to a close.

Press Club also like to throw in a couple of anthems – well, as close you can get for a four-piece punk band – such as the jumping ‘Lifelines’ and the almost ballad-like ‘I Can Change’. It’s all wrapped up with the closer ‘Less These Days’; a regretful, introspective track that brings the whole record together.

The blood, sweat and toil Press Club have put into relentless touring and frantic songwriting are bearing fruit for the Australians. ‘Endless Motion’ marks another exciting step in the band’s trajectory as they shape up to be one to watch in the future. And most of all, it’s a record that feels like a cathartic experience for the band.

TOM WALSH

Brisbane’s The Chats’ rise from scrappy upstarts playing in their friends’ basements and garages, to scrappy upstarts selling out venues across Europe, the US and their homeland has been quite extraordinary. After their 2017 video for ‘Smoko’ went viral, it has been a whirlwind for the band that plays very hard, very fast and pulls absolutely no punches when it comes to dropping in Queensland slang.

Their debut record, 2020’s ‘High Risk Behaviour’ released just before the pandemic, was the perfect encapsulation of being young and broke. It was a no-frills record, incredibly raw with a humour that was delivered at a blistering pace. There were sketchy solos, lyrics which wouldn’t mean anything to anyone outside of the Sunshine Coast and choruses that have been bellowed back at them at shows across the world.

The Chats’ sophomore record, ‘Get Fucked’ simply picks up where ‘High Risk Behaviour’ left off. Whilst the departure of founding member and guitarist Josh Price was somewhat unexpected, his replacement Josh Hardy has slotted in seamlessly – and in the words of bassist and vocalist Eamonn Sandwith, “fucking rips”.

Opener ‘6L GTR’ pokes a finger at wealth-obsessed celebrity culture in which Sandwith repeats “don’t need a fancy car, I just need a six-litre GTR”. Sonically, The Chats haven’t deviated much away from their early style, which is a blend of the rolling rhythms of The Hives, the manic vocal styles of the Buzzcocks and the frantic nature of early Chubby and the Gang.

Tracks like ‘Struck By Lightning’ and ‘Southport Superman’ go by in a flash and are played at such a high tempo, it leaves you wondering how they’ll manage to play them even faster at a live set. They rail against overzealous authority figures in ‘Ticket Inspector’ which, as we’ve all felt at some point in our lives, details the absolute drudgery of having to deal with someone that simply loves having the tiniest amount of power over you.

Irresponsible workplaces and the importance of unions are put into focus on ‘Dead On Site’, while ‘The Price of Smokes’ talks of the ongoing cost of living crisis. What starts as a classic Chats song, in which Sandwith bemoans how expensive a pack of cigarettes costs, it bursts into an anti-government rant as the singer demands “those bastards in parliament ought to be hung by their neck”.

There is, of course, textbook Chats tracks such as ‘I’ve Been Drunk In Every Pub In Brisbane’ and ‘Emperor Of The Beach’, the latter is a swipe at Australia’s macho beach culture which has bled into racist segregation with “local’s only” beaches, all wrapped up in music reminiscent of ‘Kerplunk’-era Green Day.

If you’re familiar with The Chats, ‘Get Fucked’ will not disappoint. It’s the fast, thrashing, sneering garage punk the Aussie trio do so well and makes you think, “yeah, I’d like to grow a mullet and get drunk in every pub in Brisbane” too.

TOM WALSH

In the three years since ‘Cut & Stitch’ – a deeply personal and reflective record for Aldridge – it feels like society continues to disintegrate. Politicians are still blaming the poor and immigrants for their country’s problems, police brutality remains as prevalent as ever, no normal person can afford to buy a home, and a culture of toxic masculinity persists in most walks of lives. It seems another apt time for Petrol Girls to produce a hard-hitting record.

‘Baby’, however, is a little different. While ‘Cut & Stitch’ was extremely atmospheric akin to Rolo Tomassi’s ‘Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It’, Petrol Girls have stripped the tracks back; it’s minimalistic in its arrangements and heavy on intricate riffs from guitarist Joe York. From the opening feedback of instrumental ‘Scraps’, it drops straight into the tingling riff of ‘Preachers’ which is paired with Aldridge’s smirking lyrics.

Taking on what she sees as a lack of nuance in the radical left community, Aldridge swipes at the holier-than-thou attitude some individuals have, sneering “There’s a lot of preachers here but I don’t see no saints”. The kind of black humour Petrol Girls have taken towards this record prevails again in the proudly pro-choice lead single ‘Baby, I Had An Abortion’, and the grooving ‘Clowns’.

The former, albeit not being the lightest of topics, is delivered in an almost celebratory tone with Aldridge belting out the triumphant chorus. And, in her own words, she found it to be “really fun {…} to rhyme incubator with see you later”.

However, like with other Petrol Girls records, when it’s time to take on the heavier subjects, they are dealt with in a brutal and punishing fashion. ‘Fight For Our Lives’, on which Aldridge co-wrote the lyrics with feminist activist Janey Starling, deals with the horrific rates of femicide and is delivered in a highly-charged, emotional manner which demands change, all cut to the sounds of guttural vocals and sharp guitars.

It’s followed by the equally intense ‘Violent By Design’ which focuses on police brutality. “Whose law? Whose order?”, Aldridge screams as she questions the role of the thin blue line. At a time when the UK public’s trust in the police, especially after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman, is strained, it’s a poignant song. Aldridge ends it with the simple statement of “ACAB, they don’t protect me”.

Closer ‘Bones’ is a more reflective track and is a bit of a departure from the rest of the album. It’s a little more melodic and combines delicate harmonies between Aldridge and York, putting a satisfying bow on another impressive record.

‘Baby’ is Petrol Girls at their minimalistic best – tongue-in-cheek when they want to be, and powerful and defiant when they need to be. In a world crumbling around us, it’s records like these that are more important than ever.

TOM WALSH