PAGAN

Black Wash (EVP

In an era of shorter attention spans, there’s something intensely thrilling about a debut that doesn’t let up for its 11-song stretch. Nikki Brumen’s vocals screech with an irrepressible urgency that’s impossible to ignore, yet there’s much more at work for the Melbourne four-piece than just a woman with a brutal scream. Xavier Santilli’s menacing riffs mixed with the stick-in-your-skull rhythms of Death Before Disco will have you dancing through fist-pumps; in the bassline groove of Year Of The Dog and the tightness and punch of The Greatest Love Songs, there’s a manic Every Time I Die-esque energy at play. Black Wash is a threatening and potent brew of blackened rock’n’roll—a real beast of its own making. Emily Swanson