Album Review: Violent Soho - WACO

Mansfield's finest Violent Soho's decade-plus odyssey of toil and dedication burst into fruition when their 2013 opus Hungry Ghost captured the hearts and minds of the nation's rock'n'roll proletariat, its clutch of snarling, anthemic bangers churned out by four unpretentious blokes whose knockabout demeanour added potent everyman appeal.

For follow-up WACO, instead of resting on their laurels the Soho boys ramped up their commitment to both the creative process and the band as an entity. Frontman Luke Boerdam poured himself into the songwriting and his hard work paid bountiful dividends, while his bandmates slaved hard at their individual crafts to ensure the slightly reined-in recording sounds well-drilled and precise without sacrificing character or spark.

The bookends tell the story: opener How To Taste is a perfect distillation of Soho's core strengths — potent, headbang-worthy riffs rife with hooks and melody and nuance aplenty — while closer Low starts as a beautiful world-weary shrug before bringing things home in a triumphant squall. In between the album's intricate arrangements turn from menacing beast to velvet caress on a dime (Evergreen), tail into spacey wigouts (Slow Wave) or burst into ridiculously catchy refrains (No Shade). Like Soda veers between resignation and barely concealed vitriol while Viceroy sounds like it's carved out of granite — indeed producer Bryce Moorhead deserves much credit for bringing the record's ambitious ideas to thrilling fruition.

Aussies have always loved an underdog and WACO will ensure that Violent Soho's triumphant renaissance continues unabated. Outstanding.