Produced by Hüsker Dü and Sugar man Bob Mould, and recorded at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio, Titus Andronicus’ latest album has the foundations all laid out to be a powerful beast of a rock record.
The 10 tracks breeze past in less than 40 minutes and their bar room blues meets post-hardcore stomp is largely an exhilarating one. It’s a melodic and softer record than many of their previous LPs at times, recalling a more pop-leaning Replacements, or even more recently Japandroids. Singer Patrick Stickles’ vocals – all gutsy guttural grizzle – lead the record for the most part, with guitars feeling more mixed behind.
The resulting album is one a little lacking in hooks and anything resembling stark progression, but it’s a fun blast of potent rock nonetheless.
6/10
Daniel Dylan Wray