Album Review: Violent Soho - Hungry Ghost

Brisbane four-piece Violent Soho have come out with all guns blazing on Hungry Ghost – their first album in three years and first of all-new material in five – not so much reinventing themselves, rather completely redefining what they're capable of. All the old traits remain, but they've added a refined nuance and subtlety to their armoury – abetting rather than replacing their trademark precision riffage and intensity – along with an amplification of their innate ability to conjure memorable hooks and melodies, both of which saturate these 11 tracks.

This substantial shift seems like a natural progression rather than a roll of the dice – testament to the blooming songwriting prowess of frontman Luke Boerdam – and the band tie it together with effortless cohesion, while producer Bryce Moorhead lets it all manifest perfectly. The obvious harbingers of change include nihilistic slacker manifesto, Dope Calypso, cruisy change-up Saramona Said, the guitar bends and layers of centrepiece, OK Cathedral, the pop sensibilities of the gorgeous Fur Eyes and the epic, fluid title track to finish, but every song brings something of note to the kief-covered table.

There are harmonies, vocal tricks, eclectic arrangements and a pervading sense of relaxed confidence, and though their influences occasionally bubble to the surface, who and what these tracks may sound like is redundant compared to their unabashed vitality. A band once seen by some as a one-trick pony is now undeniably the complete package. World class.