Starcrawler “Devour You”

It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were enjoying the sleazy punk sound of Starcrawler’s debut release. Since then, we’ve seen a somewhat explosive Glastonbury performance. One which was a shock rock show to rival Alice Cooper at his peak!

The first song, “Lizzy”, with its slurry punk rock drawl suggests that the debut album’s template has been followed. However, the bigger, 70’s glam rock, feel of “Bet My Brains” is perhaps a better example of the delights of this new release. As tracks like the glitzy, and almost disco, “You Dig Yours” demonstrates, this is a more joyful and ambitious release.

There remains a glam punk sound to tracks like “Home Alone” and “Toy Teenager”. But, the songs, and in particular the melodies, are allowed to breathe rather than being restrained behind a wall of sludge. Although, they do keep a darker, stooges esque, feel on “She Gets Around” and “Rich Taste”.

On the whole though, this portrays a band far more comfortable with producing great rock songs with catchy melodies. Hell, in “No More Pennies” they’ve got a track that should be a fully-fledged commercial rock hit! “Hollywood Ending” also has a huge melody that you’ll be humming for days. Don’t fall off your seat, but there’s an almost country feel to the ballad like “Born Again”. Thankfully they follow that up with another glorious slab of glam punk rock with the brilliant “Tank Top”.

This album has taken us by surprise. We were expecting it to follow the short, sharp, trash punk of the debut. This record has that, but also a hell of a lot more. The band have literally stepped up a few leagues and now sound like a band built for stadiums and main stages rather than just dirty punk clubs. It’s been a long while since a band have produced such a glorious, full bodied, glam punk record like this.