Last week saw some of rock and metals established heroes and rising stars resurface with brand new material. From great to… well… not so great. Here’s our take on the latest essential listening for those that love to bang their head.
#1 Mundungus – Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
As if Cornflake, Found God in a Tomato, Marmalade March or even their own namesake wasn’t enough to quench the outlandish quartet’s appetite for wacky-wonderful names, Mundungus is just another one for Psychedelic Porn Crumpets’ list of head-scratching vocabulary; turns out it’s a good song too. Mundungus never shies away from throttling you with high distortion, jumpy riffs and Jack McEwan’s volatile vocals; don’t forget to breathe with this one.
The Aussie psych-rockers may borrow signature moves from another oddly-named Aussie psych-rock band *cough* King Gizzard *cough* but the fluid dynamics between galloping riffage and soaring chorus hooks is enough for the buzz to build at the prospect of a new album.
Score: 7.5/10
#2 Backseat Boogie – Airbourne
Yes, it’s another Airbourne song. Yes, it does sound quite a bit like a lot of their previous songs. Yes, it’s still quite catchy. Yes, I do hate that.
Starting with what can only be described as frontman Joel O’Keefe tumbling from the sky with a scream that flows straight into the intro, that’s, unfortunately, the most amount of nuance that Backseat Boogie brings to the bloated Airbourne discography. It follows the recently released Boneshaker in the run-up to a new LP under the same name and, well, it’s hard not to jive along to the classic rock ‘n’ roll heritage that the song unearths. It may be another case of Ctrl C/Ctrl V but it’s a tried and tested formula that’s proven to go down well with a few crates of lager.
Score: 5.5/10
#3 I Am Warfare – Annihilator
Ugh – they started so well. Two years since For the Demented hit the shelves in 2017 and I Am Warfare’s sonic assault of cascading guitar hooks and frenzied growls had the band in good stead for the first half of their new single. Sporting a very familiar thrash melody that harkens back to classic Slayer numbers, the track offers a rather perturbing chorus that’s backed by a solid chug of Jeff Water’s pick hand.
Annihilator’s writing prowess seems to vanish for the remainder of the track as the lead guitar licks scream messily over the rest of the group and their attempt at a warfare-ambience quickly becomes a task to burden. Rounded off by an ungainly solo, the Canadian thrashers leave much to be desired for the coming album; and I thought things were beginning to pick up for thrash.
Score: 5/10
#4 Fire, Ready, Aim – Green Day
What on earth was that? No seriously, that was Green Day? The unapologetic punk icons from the mid-’90s? Christ, what happened? Fire, Ready, Aim does fit the age-old ‘short but sweet’ but that sweetness quickly pullulates into an ostentatious power pop that will rot your mind and not just your teeth. Hearing Billie Joe Armstrong perform falsetto is certainly new ground but god I thought it, and the rest of the happy-clappy-cheerleader-anthem, would be ground steered clear of by Green Day of all bands. Some formulate that the next album Father of all…is intended to be a middle finger to Warner Records as it marks their last record with the label and they plan on going out with a bang; it wouldn’t be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.
Score: 3/10
#5 Hornet’s Nest – Power Trip
The genericism of Backseat Boogie, the half-baked flop of I Am Warfare and the torturous hell that was Fire, Ready, Aim… was all worth it. The task of recapturing the sound and ferocity of 80’s thrash metal has been attempted as many times as those trying to get to the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle with very few striking gold (not sure the simile can be carried that far); Hornet’s Nest, however, is an exultant display of some very well-read metal historians.
You can look at the Gatling riffs and their Kill ‘em All tones, you can focus on the cheap production that whips up those doses of nostalgia or even the lead guitar wails that sound just like something out of Kirk Hammett’s book; the sound of the Bay Area Thrash is woven into every corner. If Power Trip intend on making an 80’s tribute album then, by all means, they have my thanks and my anticipation but if this is merely a one-off then it will just be another merit to their exponentially prestigious name.
Score: 8/10
Words: Alex Mace