The Drowns – Blacked Out (Pirates Press Records)

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a die hard Drowns fanboy, and for the last six months I’ve been wating with baited breath, and hand wringing nervous expectation for Blacked Out. And I’m more than a little happy, and relieved, that every second of the wait was worth it. From the opening, one two knockout punch of Banger and Ketamine & Cola through Yob On A Rampage, 1979 Trans Am and Chancer to the surprisingly emotive, piano led closer Born To Die In NYC, the rock and roll roughnecks don’t ease up on the loud pedal and deliver the punk infused goods in spectacular fashion.

Imagine if the Sweet and Slade had led the seventies punk rock revolution, and had written all of the best Smiths riffs that Johnny Marr wished he’d laid down, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of where The Drowns are coming from. They’re a blue collar wrecking crew with a social conscience who love, and write about the finer things in life, like letting loose on the weekend, beer, smokes, V8s and hanging out and having fun. I expected great things from Blacked Out and The Drowns exceeded my expectations a hundred fold. Absolutely freaking incredible… Tim Cundle