Album review: These New South Whales – GODSPEED

As far as mixing influences goes, These New South Whales have managed to tick off quite the list with fourth record GODSPEED. Returning listeners will, of course, be aware of the similarities to the likes of Militarie Gun or Spiritual Cramp – yet across this fairly compact collection it’s impossible to miss moments of Oasis worship, new wave love, and (best of all) the muscular hardcore heft.

Opener INTRO manages to allude to the majority of these, as even within 53 seconds, it asserts listener expectations musically yet doesn’t slide too far into any one sound or sonic pitfall, but rather rides the knife edge that allows the band to take the album multiple directions.

GODSPEED as a whole feels like a crescendo. The album starts a little lighter, a little softer, yet around the midpoint, BIG MACHINE kicks in. This is very much the beginning of the rest, with a bag of energy and an injection of ’80s punk musicality. The album's highpoint one-two of PIG and BIRDBRAIN follows, complete with guitars that feel like Chubby & The Gang at their best and vocals that at once will soar above a crowd and incite pure chaos.

The closing title-track does calm down a touch, and whilst it isn’t the most energetic thing here, it’s got charm baked into its very core. The fuzzy guitars and floatier atmosphere are an unexpected and incredibly enjoyable way to round off the album, which has otherwise felt like more of a romp and rollick than a swaying dance release. Yet as vocalist Jamie Timony echoes the opening lyrics to the album – ‘The choice is yours, the choice is yours, godspeed’ – it feels like the band have taken that mantra in and lived it on this barnstormer of an album.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Militarie Gun, Chubby & The Gang, Scowl

GODSPEED is released on November 28