Avail

Turning once again to life in their home base of Richmond, VA, for inspiration, this beloved and enduring quintet has found a renewed sense of purpose with this follow-up to the decent but disappointing One Wrench. The songs are stronger and the performances tighter, recalling the amazing 4AM Friday and Over the James records. This sixth studio effort finds the band at its sonic best, as well having set up shop in a fancy studio (owned by Cracker's Dave Lowery) and utilising an engineer/producer (Bryan Paulson) whose previous credits include Beck, Wilco and Hüsker Dü. The result is not only an inspired Avail album, but a great sounding one as well.