Triage

Abandoning the abstract art-rock ideals of experimentalism and pushing the rhythm section further out onto the dancefloor has resulted in a sweet spot for this type of storytelling. Still, this isn’t music to be taken in completely on the first listen. It’s eerie, complex, heart wrenching even.

Methyl Ethel have reached great new heights with this stellar effort.

At only nine tracks, Methyl Ethel has no time for filler, so they make a statement whenever they can. During the first listen, you may pick up on some of their faults, but multiple visits can expose you to all their hidden treasures.

Webb is capable of nimble vocals, but he often opts for a deliberately strained tone, as if trying to push his woes through his colon. His gift for hooks means that even this peculiarity will find fans.

‘Trip The Mains’, perhaps Webb’s finest composition yet, appears to share its electrifying opening riff with Donna Summer’s disco classic ‘Hot Stuff’, before diving headfirst into a seismic chorus that’d shatter Blondie’s ‘Heart Of Glass’. Elsewhere, the haunting ‘Scream Whole’ begins as a soothing lullaby, before unravelling itself into a doomy slice of noir-pop. This momentum is intermittent though, disappointingly.