Jamie Lenman - Puke 
Release Date: Out Now
When I feel the bile of incandescent rage bubbling up inside me like a mixture of lava and indigestion, I always reach for Jamie Lenman - not because he is in anyway soothing but because of his uncanny ability to soundtrack such emotions. As such, the fact that his new album is called 'Puke' should come as no surprise and neither should the contents. We open up with 'Not Likely' and a long drone like an air raid siren feeding back on itself before a riff with the footprint of Sasquatch and Lenman's best laddish vocal join in for a session of brutality at the disco. The absolute punk assault of 'I'm A Cunt' will incite many a mosh pit but only lasts 39 seconds so the man does have some sense of responsibility after all.
'Aurora Borealis' finds Lenman channelling early Foo Fighters in the riffs underpinning a stream of consciousness and irritation spoken word lyric that explodes into a panic attack of a chorus. Track four is the brilliantly titled 'Lose Weight For Weddings' lurches and jerks around the kind of bass line that Madness might have toyed with back in the day before 'Sludgehammer' pulls itself out of the swamp with dead eyed malevolence and moves ominously towards the family, unaware and eating dinner in their cabin. Similarly, 'Movies On TV' screams and dribbles like a zombie that's been trapped in a well for 100 years only to break free and be forced to watch Hallmark Christmas movies on a loop.
The drum rattle of 'You're Nothing' introduces the kind of song that speaks to the thoughts of your well informed punter watching politicians flapping their gums on TV while closing track 'Every Second Is Gold' drips pure rage from second one to the final dying notes. Is this my favourite Lenman release? No. But does the urgency, rawness, and pure emotion of an album recorded in one day and no more than four takes per song make this an essential listen in these times of rage, anxiety, and confusion? Fuck yeah.
More information: https://www.instagram.com/jamielenman/
Buy/Stream: https://jamielenman.bandcamp.com/