Lets boot the big eared pachyderm out of the room nice and early, eh? In the eight years since Belfast-based riff wielders Dutch Schultz last released a full length record, the world of rock (and indeed everywhere else) has changed dramatically. For all of the upheavals and uncertainties that we’ve all been weathering, one thing remains the same however, and it’s that the band are still as tight as an 80 year old clutching his Confirmation money. A fact which they stylishly illustrate on their long awaited third opus Friends Like Brutus.

Founded from the ashes of shoulda been contenders Throat, Dutch Schultz’s latest effort is a bona fide knockout and is a bruising fusion of hypnotic melodies and cranium cracking guitars. Those in the thrall of acts Quicksand will be sucked into the 11 track affair in no time and some of the hooks are sharper than a Cenobite in a smoking jacket (‘Start Me,’ ‘Ride Along The Jackal’). Now swelled to a four piece and sounding deadlier than ever thanks to a sterling production from Russ Russell, the likes of the suitably sinister ‘Men With Hammers’ and opener ‘So Many Locusts’ (which tips a cap to early Hot Water Music) are standouts.

Best of all is recent single ‘Brutus.’ A track which serves as a welcome reminder that singer/guitarist Willy Mundell is a master craftsman when it comes to simple yet seductive melodies, the chorus (which boasts the lyric “Kill the survivor and smile”) deserves to earn Dutch Schultz even more friends.

8/10

Key Track: 'Brutus'

OUT SEPTEMBER 18