4/5

It's hardly a stretch to imagine Steve In Utero Albini busting out the marshmallows when Uncle Fritz and the Brothers Keiller set his Chicago recording laboratory ablaze with these songs last spring. The Dundonian trio took a blowtorch to whatever small measure of Franz-like pop palatability their debut LP had when they released the snarling Silly Icarus single in 2007, and now they've returned to fan the flames with this belligerent master class in vitriolic post-punk. Guitars groove, drums crunch and the bass sounds like a revving Harley throughout a gutsy, stupefying four song salvo that demands 20 spins before the rest of the album is given a single chance to compete. Attenuate and That's the Way She Goes offer some respite from the mania, with the former recalling the gothic lullabies of Fritz's deceased solo alter-ego. Okay, so the vocal harmonies may occasionally fall flat, but it's difficult to care when your face is already on fire. [Dave Kerr]