It takes a while to figure out who Hannah Rodgers sounds like. At first it’s St Vincent, with Small Mercies’ opener, Andean Condor, recalling Annie Clark’s Strange Mercy.
Then, when Mary Magdalene’s gloomy grunge kicks in, or maybe Bitch, with its clanging guitars and blunt lyrics – “You’re full of shit/ Still sucking on your momma’s tit” – Courtney Love leaps to mind. But Pixx has a teutonic, nasal twist to her delivery – not least on Disgrace’s driving, New Wave claustrophobia and the electro-pop of Peanuts Grow Underground – which, unlikely as it seems, most recalls Propaganda’s Claudia Brücken.
The robotic Eruption 24 underlines this, but while Small Mercies presents a strong personality and threatening moments, it’s a lot more lo-fi than if Trevor Horn had produced it.
6/10
Wyndham Wallace