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HEAD LIKE A HOLE: Blood Will Out

The music of HLAH has always been messy, alcohol-fuelled, and above all raw. It has always been their appeal, and returning 11 years after their last album they have stayed true to their roots, and rightly so. There are 11 songs on this album and not one of them allows time for a breather, bar the final instrumental unwinder. From the opener Swagger of Thieves you just want to get up and punch someone. The guitars of Nigel Regan and Andrew Ashton are right at the front of the mix in every song, delivering a bucketload of distortion with wickedly played solos and Mike Franklin-Browne’s drums sound like they’ve been epically recorded (by Andrew Buckton) in a castle. Glory Glory and Death of a Friend are the standouts, the latter an eight minute glorious apocalypse of phasing guitars and stomping drums. “I’m gonna kick you in the teeth, I’m gonna kick you in the face.” These lyrics sum up the album perfectly. They really do.

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