Album review: Nature Gives reunites punks at the peak of their powers

When rock 'n' roll renaissance man John Robb decided to reform his infamous punk band The Membranes after decades of inactivity, it's fair to say he ruffled a few feathers. However, the sprawling, genre-straddling comeback Dark Matter/Dark Energy silenced the naysayers. Four years on, its sequel again delivers the goods. A deliciously dark double album, heaving with ambition and head-cracking bass riffs, Therapy?'s Andy Cairns has declared it the sonic equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting - and we're in full agreement.

Featuring a 20-piece choir, Theatre Of Hate's Kirk Brandon and punk icon Jordan, this enthralling rock opera about sex, death and nature is a tour de force. The dub, surf and new wave fusion 'Black Is the Colour' is a highlight, as is 'A Strange Perfume' - the latter's blending of a heavenly choir with Robb's hissed vocal is simply inspired.

A fitting soundtrack for our apocalyptic times, this might be the best thing the self-described "post post punk" band have ever put their name to.