Drenge

Overview

It's a little distressing just how good this band is, especially when the two brothers that make up Drenge look like they are only 12 years old. The first time I heard this record, I thought for sure that these were some grizzled old Manchester punks still hanging onto that glorious period of English post-punk in the late '70s and early '80s, still playing their Smiths and Wedding Present cassettes and raging against Margaret Thatcher.

Maybe the bit about the cassettes is true, but as you can see, the Loveless brothers (Eoin and Rory) are anything but grizzled. They've been called "Sheffield's Black Keys" by some lazier critics, but rather than coming from a blues background, Drenge is a stripped-back, turned-up combination of all things metal and grunge, with elements of Black Sabbath and The Melvins everywhere — though mostly in the furious guitar overdrive on every track.

Their debut album is all killer, and they are absolutely going to tear The Tote apart. If you're after a sweaty, thrashing headbang over summer, you couldn't ask for a better one than this.