Healthy Junkies: Listen to the Mad (Banana Castle Records)

For a group likely to be onstage somewhere on any given night, permanently on the road grunge / punk ensemble Healthy Junkies are no slouches in the album department either. Their sixth LP since forming fifteen years ago, Listen To The Mad gives the very satisfying impression of being front row at one of their gigs.

With their founding principals: Nina Courson’s lead vocals and Phil-Honey-Jones’s guitar riffage front and centre throughout, the pair are backed up by the impressive thrum and thwack of bassist Joe Gaskell and drummer David James.

Bracing, melodic blasts Favourite Place, the weaving arpeggios of Dead Souls and earworm single Lion In A Circus which builds towards a blazing guitar solo, make their point in vociferous fashion and depart in under three minutes flat. Celebrity culture satirising salvo Julie's Got A Job and the self-explanatory Media Whore lending the set lyrical gravitas.

Son And A Daughter bears the influence of early era Police, hinging on a sinewy bassline and reggae rhythmic undertow, with Take Me To The Moon powered by Beatles-esque chordage. Aside the two examples above, the ‘Junkies are a difficult band to pin influences to, as half a dozen records in they have fully created their own sound.

An intriguing departure, Solitaire based around a succession of guitar arpeggios, is all too brief, while Baroness is underpinned by an almost drum and bass motif. Baring their fangs, World On Fire concludes the set with an all-out guitar squall.

At fifteen tracks long, …Mad would possibly benefit from some slight trimming, a minor gripe however, as the LP represents another lunge forward by one of the UKs stalwart alt. rock outfits. 4/5