NOISEPICKER

Peace Off EXILE ON MAINSTREAM Unsung fuzz rock maverick gets a blues boner

Wonkiness is an underrated virtue in heavy music and Harry Armstrong has long been one of its most reliable exponents. Noisepicker are a dirtier, bluesier and marginally less spiky affair than Harry’s works with Hangnail and End Of Level Boss, but his knack for penning riffs that rival the classic ones they salute remains undiminished. The slower moments are the most memorable; whether gnashing and wailing like a bonged-out Percy Plant on the pendulous, proto-metal heft of A Taste Of My Dying or grimacing amid a fog of distortion on He Knew It Would All End In Tears, it’s as if the lovechild of Glenn Danzig and Tom Waits has been overdosing on Groundhogs albums, homebrew and peyote. Meanwhile, I Hear You Talking And It Sounds Like Bullshit To Me may just be the ultimate (if possibly accidental) anthem for the social media era. FOR FANS OF: KYUSS, DANZIG, ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY