Album Review: The Menzingers - Rented World

There's a deep-seated anger that reveals itself in short, sharp bursts throughout The Menzingers' fourth record Rented World  – the follow-up to 2012's remarkable On The Impossible Past. For the rest of the time, it's brutally honest lyrics that take control of the wheel and total everything in their path. It seems something has pissed these guys off big time – whether it's an internal or external turmoil – and the lyrics on this record's 12 songs come across as a way for them to sort through it. While Rented World will struggle as a whole to outshine On The Impossible Past (they really nailed it with that one), tunes such as In Remission, Bad Things and The Talk stand as some of The Menzingers' best and most catchy work to date – if you want a chorus rattling around your head for a week you only have to run through opener I Don't Want To Be An Arsehole once or twice.

Spending most of their time on the road – Australia's seen them three times in as many years – they've honed their sound to one that records just as well as it comes across on stage. It's rare to find such compelling songwriting in punk rock these days, and few truly understand the power of putting it all, mentally and physically, on the line like The Menzingers. This is punk rock that bleeds true emotion.