Album Review: THUMPER - 'Delusions of Grandeur'

As you might expect from a band with two drummers and three guitarists, THUMPER don’t do anything by halves.

They know how to make a powerful racket – and they do. The Dublin-based outfit’s long-awaited debut album can only strengthen that burgeoning reputation: it is one of the most ambitious and arresting records you’ll hear all year. It is a bit of a magnum opus too: there’s the guts of an hour’s music to savour, featuring a fistful of exhilarating songs, and plenty of THUMPER-style knock-out blows.

I know, comparisons only take you so far – but they can help paint a picture. THUMPER's DNA has elements of Rated R-era QOTSA (‘Fear Of Art’), The Hives (‘Ad Nauseam’) and The Wildhearts (‘The Loser’) – but ultimately, the beauty of it is that Delusions Of Grandeur is its own, singular beast. Combining millennial angst and compulsive, turbo-driven guitar, THUMPER are at their best when they let their psych-tinged epics breathe – as they do on the brilliant one-time single, ‘Topher Grace’.

Don’t take my word for it. Delusions Of Grandeur is a record that rewards repeated plays. By the sixth time around, I realised that the speaker-shaking ‘25’ is a real game-changer. And it is not the only one here.

So give it time. The rewards will be manifold.

Listen: '25'
Score: 8/10

Out March 18 via EMMS.
Read the Hot Press interview with THUMPER in this month's issue.