While their debut LP from 2023 had the character of a colorful grab bag of different styles and flavors, the sophomore album of this Cincinnati, Ohio group featuring members of, among others, The Drin, The Serfs, Vacation and Crime Of Passing, comes across as a good bit more homogenous with the common thread here being a comparatively sleazy, hard-rockin’ garage punk sound occasionally bordering on dungeon- and motörpunk territory with strong similarities to the likes of Cement Shoes, Golden Pelicans, Cheap Heat, Pïss Bäth as well as AUS/NZ groups like Hög, Polute, Split System or maybe Alien Nosejob’s sleaze rock record Stained Glass a while back, yet there is still plenty of nuance and variety crammed into in these tunes regardless. Currency has a strong feel of classic Saints, Radio Birdman and Scientists while Afraid of Guns melds propulsive power pop harmonies with psychedelic undercurrents and textures. Speaking of which, the band members’ connections to The Drin and The Serfs become quite obvious for a change in the spaced-out, kraut-ish Gears Never Dry. Quite Nice and to a lesser extent, What Have I Done radiate a hazy, cowpunk-ish heartland rock vibe, Nie Wrócimy has a bit of an MX-80-esque proto-/art punk bent to itself and i totally shouldn’t fail to point out the four bonus tracks of the digital edition, among which the record’s most catchy, power pop-ish tunes Error, Flowers and the Wire-esque Ffion deserve special mention.
