Frank Carter is a familiar if flitting presence on the British punk scene, and as the frontman of the Rattlesnakes, he’s back in his element.
It’s fitting that the opening track of their debut album, Blossom, is called Juggernaut – it dives straight into his unashamedly British anger in a flurry of riffs and fuzz. He may be a grown-up and a dad now, but he’s still capable of being a figurehead for the pissed-off youth who are too young to have had the Sex Pistols.
Trouble, Fangs and Devil Inside Me all play with punk devices such as distorted basslines and impassioned, repeated lyrics – ‘There’s a devil inside of me/And there’s one inside of you!’ – but never sound clichéd, and the bluesy rhythm of the latter song breaks up the album’s frenetic pace.
Loss, with its menacing, reverb-heavy bass, is a hardcore joy that sees Carter letting rip, while closer I Hate You is a Sleaford Mods-esque rant. As far as channelling anger into art goes, Blossom is a triumph.
