Cutting Noses, Chasing Tales

Punk rock verses, soft-rock choruses, a brash teenage attitude blown into an epic twenty-something cacophony, and a vague sense that there might (or might not) be something more sophisticated lurking beneath the surface. For the most part, the Inner City Pirates specialise in making dumb sentiments sound clever: “All I wanted was a bitch, I never expected a bastard like this!” they sing on ‘She’s a Bastard’ (funnily enough, they occasionally sound like the Manic Street Preachers who at their worst made intelligent sentiments sound dumb). And the noise is generally an impressive one. For now, Inner City Pirates are good dirty fun – a snotty-nosed suburban triumph. Where they’ll go from here is anyone’s guess!