Beach Riot - Subatomic Party Cool (Alcopop! 
Records)
Release Date: 17th September 2021
It feels like this album has been a long time in the making but I think that's just what happens when you follow a band from their early days right through to the release of their debut long player. 'Subatomic Party Cool' brings Brighton quartet Beach Riot in to the big leagues and, baby, they came to party. 'B.A.D.' gets things going with a squeal of feedback and a wall of distorted guitars rolling ominously over the horizon like Hell's Angels in formation but that trademark melody-in-the-eye-of-the-storm dedication is already in evidence. On 'Wrong Impression' the tightly strung guitar melody punches and reels like a drunk starting a fight at the roller-rink until the chorus explodes in a moment of glorious synchronicity and celebration.
There's a dissonant clatter to 'Good To Know (That I'm Still On Your Mind)' that finds its way to a haunting melody in the chorus with an energy akin to the Maccabees and the B52s collaborating hard. 'Modern Dinosaur' sounds like the Violent Femmes going through a punk-grunge phase while recent single 'Wraith' sounds as angry and monolithic as ever sat in the middle of this furiously paced album. The Nirvana influence is strong on wayward slow jam 'Unrequited Love' as the guitars and vocals meander in close but imperfect unison. The ferocity comes back with a six pack of Monster and Snickers Duo on 'Medicate for Success' as dirty, dirty guitars power their way in to your heart via your ears and the rhythm section works your core. 'Faze' has a My Vitriol flavour to its grunge tendencies while 'Sofa Surfer' has an almost industrial rhythm softened only by the twin vocals of Rory and Cami working in gorgeous parallel.
By the time 'She's a Hurricane' rides in to town on the back of a meaty old bass line you should be well and truly in the pro-Beach Riot gang but if you're not this riotous slice of grunge-pop will leave you with no choice but to get your one way ticket out of town. Similarly, the buzz-saw riff of 'Blush' cuts in to your brain and the hypnotic Beach Boys meets the Beatles vocal melody is the morphine you need to get through the trauma. The album finishes up with 'Serial Scruff' which is as chaotic and unhinged as it is bombastic and ambitious which is a heady combination full of 90s influences and more angles than any song really has a right to. 'Subatomic Party Cool' is an incredibly inventive, ambitious and huge sounding album with an enviable consistency in the quality of each song and more than a few hints that there is yet more to come from these four. If this isn't at least in my album of the year shortlist come December then we are in for an incredibly good Autumn.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/wearebeachriot
Live Dates:
NOVEMBER
24 - Milton Keynes - Craufurd Arms
25 - Newcastle - Head of Steam
26 - Inverness - Mad Hatters
27 - Glasgow - The Hug & Pint
30 - Edinburgh - Sneaky Pete’s
DECEMBER
1 - Manchester - Gullivers
2 - Liverpool - Jimmy’s
3 - Leeds - Hyde Park Book Club
4 - Blackpool - Bootleg Social
7 - Sheffield - Record Junkee
8 - Leicester - The Cookie
9 - Birmingham - Dead Wax
10 - Bristol - The Lanes
11 - Guildford - The Boileroom
14 - Norwich - Voodoo Daddy’s
15 - London - The Lexington
16 - Brighton - The Prince Albert