Boys Night Outā€™s second album, Trainwreck, was a concept album following the story of a manā€™s descent into madness after he kills his wife in his sleep. This third full-length release from the Canadian group doesnā€™t have such an ambitious overarching approach, but its themes are equally grim: alcoholism, poisonous relationships, and public executions. Evoking bands like Bayside and Alkaline Trio, the quintet blend chirpy pop-punk riffs with desolate rock atmospherics and elements of post-hardcore.

The album fires on all cylinders from the beginning: Get Your Head Straight opens with a gripping chorus and proves to be one of the recordā€™s best songs. The Push And The Pull is also a highlight ā€“ its title is reflective of the propulsive rhythm of the song.

Paean to alcoholism Let Me Be Your Swear Wordā€™s chorus is almost offensively catchy given the tragic subject matter covered by lines like, ā€?this bottleā€™s gonna take us both to an early graveā€¯, and the crashing drums of The Heirs Of Error at first seem to be at odds with the other instruments until the song suddenly comes together, revelling in intensely energetic guitar work.

The understated Swift And Unforgiving and Hey, Thanks are less compelling, and the juryā€™s still out on Fall For The Drinker, which sounds kind of like Radioheadā€™s Fake Plastic Trees played by the Smoking Popes. After its deliberate pace, the upbeat Apartment 4 certainly gets the adrenaline pumping again.

Finally, the melancholy undercurrent that runs through the album comes out strongly on It Wonā€™t Be Long, which begins as just piano and vocals before swelling into a massive singalong dirge that provides an epic conclusion to this imperfect but likeable album.

Owen Heitmann

Tiger & The Duke is jaw-dropping. Its foundation is post-hardcore, with liberal doses of prog, funk, metal, blues, screamo, and ambient sounds. Throw in abrupt tempo changes, soaring dual vocals, unpredictable structures, and free improvisation and itā€™s difficult to describe any one track in less than a page, let alone the whole release, which consists of four vital songs (or Acts), plus four meandering electronic instrumentals.

The combination of styles is at first bewildering, but it begins to make a sort of sense when investigation reveals that the anonymous characters who make up the band (identified by pseudonyms such as The Lynx and The Nightingale) include members of progressive ska-reggae-rock outfit RX Bandits, post-hardcore group Finch and experimental rock band Circa Survive. Elements from all these acts can be heard on Tiger & The Duke (filtered through a Mars Volta sensibility and fused together by electronica), but they still make unlikely collaborators in the first place. Having identified the pieces of the puzzle, the whole picture remains intimidating.

This reissue remasters the out-of-print EP (first released in 2005) and adds seven remixes and a live recording of songs originally found on the collectiveā€™s debut album, Lover, The Lord Has Left Us. The live version of Horses In The Sky is the most powerful of the additional tracks, many of which (such as the Unā€™aria Elettronica (Technology) remix by Chris Tsagkis) are as drowsy as the original EPā€™s interludes, although My Horse Must Lose (Portugal The Man) and The Heretic (Evol Intent) are recast as compelling off-kilter pop in the vein of Hefner, while you can probably guess what This Heat In Dub sounds like from the title.

At their best, The Sound Of Animals Fighting are intense and challenging. The interludes and many of the remixes could be seen as padding rather than enriching the experience, but while I lean towards the former, Iā€™ll still give them kudos for creativity. You wonā€™t hear anything quite like this anywhere else.

Owen Heitmann

For a band whose career has lasted for more than 25 years, it seems a bit odd that Orange County punk band Social Distortionā€™s Greatest Hits features only a meagre 11 songs, but this judicial selection ensures that thereā€™s no filler.

This collection showcases Social Dā€™s heartfelt wrong-side-of-the-tracks mid-paced punk anthems and stands testament to the frequent unusual incorporation of country influences into the bandā€™s sound, right from the early days. Ironically, these influences ā€“ which permeate a lot deeper than the twang in singer Mike Nessā€™s gruff snarl ā€“ are most evident in original tracks like the loping Prison Bound and are almost absent in their chugging, Sex Pistols-whipped cover of Ring Of Fire.

Selections on offer include Mommyā€™s Little Monster (the title track of their debut), the capitulation of I Was Wrong, the uncommonly up-tempo Reach For The Sky, and three cuts from their breakthrough self-titled album, including the bittersweet Story Of My Life. (However, not all the songs are presented in their original versions ā€“ the six tracks from their three albums released on former label Epic have been re-recorded by the current lineup, since Epic holds the rights to the original recordings.)

Brand new offering Far Behind also proves that the outfit still has what it takes, being easily the equal of any other track on offer on this concise precis of their output.

Owen Heitmann

Miles Away hail from Perth, Australia, but their style of hardcore is definitely influenced by the US scenes of Boston and the Pacific Northwest, without being derivative or unoriginal (at least, not moreso than any other hardcore band since Minor Threat). That said, neither do they offer anything revolutionarily new, but innovation isnā€™t what most hardcore fans come looking for. More important are qualities like energy, intensity, and solid songs, and Miles Away deliver in all those areas.

Although the tracks do tend to follow the same formula ā€“ racing guitars, pummelling drums, throatily shouted vocals ā€“ there is enough light and shade to maintain interest. Melodic touches infiltrate numbers such as Cranford Ave and the hectic Brainwashed, and there are frequent tempo changes, switching up the likes of Rising Sun just as they begin to sound repetitive. Excursion (Piss Stops And Passports) also trades off the angst of tracks like Wake Up with optimistic lyrics based on the bandā€™s experiences touring the US and Japan, as well as their home country.

Most of the tracks clock in at around two minutes, with none over three. The longest songs are the final trio: Safe As Houses uses the length to explore a more complex song dynamic, even ending with an acoustic outro, Affadavit is another example of aggressively melodic hardcore, and the closing title track is a restrained acoustic instrumental that shows a different side to the band.

Australian fans of bands like Champion and Sinking Ships would do well to investigate Miles Away and consider spending their cash closer to home.

Owen Heitmann

For Tiger Armyā€™s fourth album, singer/guitarist and only constant member Nick 13 is yet again joined by new additions to the bandā€™s perpetually rotating lineup, in the form of Jeff Roffredo and James Meza on stand-up bass and drums, respectively. The trio begin the album strongly with the rattling intro Prelude: Signal Return and its familiar refrain of ā€?Tiger Army never die!ā€¯; Hotprowl is likewise psychobilly of the first order, also incorporating an AFI influence and a breakdown towards the end. And despite starting with acoustic guitar and being quieter overall, Afterworld maintains this energy.

From this point, however, the album steadily loses ground with its psychobilly fanbase. While the familiar slap bass is still evident on several tracks like Ghosts Of Memory and Lunatone, the urgent pace that opened the album is lacking, and just as many tracks find songwriter Nick 13 branching out wildly. Forever Fades Away is balladic melodic rock (beginning on an oddly disco-oriented beat), and Where The Moss Slowly Grows is country-influenced, complete with pedal steel guitar, while the Tex-Mex Hechizo de Amor has lyrics unexpectedly sung entirely in Spanish. But As The Cold Rain Falls is definitely the most unusual cut on the album, sounding for all intents and purposes like The Cure, with shimmering rhythms and keyboards ripped straight from the 80s.

Some criticisms from longterm followers are clearly inconsequential (the album has less than the traditional 13 tracks, and the title doesnā€™t follow the expected Tiger Army IV: naming convention). But there does seem to be a loss of identity on this album, and itā€™s hard to know where theyā€™ll go next.

Owen Heitmann