Who's a Terrorist Now?
Chris Chinchilla reviews some aural weapons of mass destruction

The Playwrights - English Self Storage
Out now

This is The Playwrights first proper release, plagued by bad luck and misfortune, it's been a long time coming and the sense of dissatisfaction and listlessness is evident. Songs like 'Why We've become invisible', 'Fear of open spaces', 'Dislocated' and 'Where the stress falls' are full of lyrics brimming with frustration of provincial and everyday living, the draw and darkness of big towns. The music is incredibly frantic, complementing the lyrics perfectly, the drums rattle about, somehow holding it all together despite never really settling into any constant beats, the bass pulsates and rumbles just as manically with the two guitarists crashing about, seemingly doing their own thing, producing wonderfully discordant melodies and rhythms that are chaotic, but work. It's taken a while for them to get here, but this album is testament to the fact that it was well worth the effort.

www.theplaywrights.co.uk

Scully - Who's a Terrorist now
Out now

'Who's a Terrorist now' is one of the best tracks I've heard this year, raucous, scathing, and teeming with aggression and hard-edged passion, everything a track should have in my opinion. The B-Side 'In Good Time' isn't quite as raucous, and some of the lyrics are a little cheesy and clichéd, but it's still an excellent track with an awesome guitar line and a glorious sing-a-long chorus. Definitely a band to watch for, they will be big.

www.scullyofficial.com

Broken Family Band - Balls
out now on Track & Field


'Balls' is the BFB's third release, and usually by the third album bands are starting to mellow, The BFB seem to be going completely in reverse getting rockier as they release more, not that their going to be donning Leathers and playing the Download festival any time soon. 'Balls' is more direct than previous releases, the tracks are shorter, they kick in quicker and are more danceable. However fear not, the same 'Alt-country' roots are still there, the same Jet black dark and arrogant lyrics still spit and curse their way through the album and the same brilliantly crafted song writing still oozes from the songs. I've been a fan of BFB for sometime now, but I've always been of the opinion that their live show is consistently so much better than their recorded output, and whilst 'Balls' is a competent release, this still remains the case.

www.thebrokenfamilyband.com

Jim Noir - My Patch
out on My Dad Recordings 15th May

I'm not sure quite why I like this, the lyrics are very repetitive, in fact even the same lyrics repeated over and over again, but it's simple and catchy, it sticks in your head in a nice mellow if slightly eccentric kind of way. What more could you want from a song?

www.jimnoir.com

Chris Chinchilla

Terrorise us about these reviews on our message boards here