Archie Bronson Outfit

The undersea pipeline that transmits rock trends between the UK and North America must occasionally be prone to clogs and reversals of flow. How else to explain the third release (first in four years) by this trio from Wiltshire, England, caked with juddering noise flushed from NYC and Chicago, circa the mid-'90s. Opener "Magnetic Warrior" has an infected, relentless groove that carries the grime-y fingerprints of Girls Against Boys, a band that in their day, "borrowed" some of their antics from the Fall's back catalogue. Guitarist/vocalist Sam Windett sings in the way freaked-out slasher film victims relay exposition before the machete strikes. This is tempered by occasional nervous dance tropes, provided live by bassist Dorian Hobday and drummer Mark Cleveland, suggesting everything from vintage New Order to LCD Soundsystem. The less than pristine fidelity and urgency of propulsion tap into a very live vein that has carried blood from Buzzcocks to Mission of Burma to the Jesus Lizard on down. This is raw power that has gotten meaner and weirder all those years fermenting at the bottom of the ocean.