The Survival Code

Hopelessness Of People

Three’s a crowd, two’s company on new album.

They may have shrunk from a trio to a duo since their 2015 debut album but you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference. In fact, it’s difficult to see how you could fit a bassist into the tightly meshed barrage of sound produced by singer/ guitarist Gary McGuinness and drummer Tom Cook.

There have been plenty of frustrations along the way for London-based the Survival Code but these have been channelled into a carefully constructed onslaught in which each element has a specific role to play. They play with passion but more importantly with self-belief.

It’s hard to ignore McGuinness’ strident vocals or the howling harmonies. The opening Same Skin with its exciting guitar and shifting shapes sets the tone, followed by Crawl, which celebrates the pleasure in overcoming trivial hassles. Pick of the bunch, though, is the relentless, breakneck Along

The Way, suggesting we’re doomed to repeat ourselves.