Harmony No Harmony

New recruit Tom Fowler’s thick, syrupy guitar tone is a key element of the new sound, but it doesn’t detract from Million Dead’s fleet-footed pace, tracks like "Father My Father" whooshing through breakdowns of astonishing complexity. The lyrics of frontman Frank Turner deserve a special emphasis, taking on as they do an absurdist, occasionally flat-out comic style: "The leg-bone is connected to the foot-bone/Is connected to the ex-board processing zones," he croons, on the Soundgarden-styled "Holloway Prison Blues"; meanwhile, "Achilles Lung" offers a cautionary tale of the ill effects of smoking. Even Turner is upstaged, however, by the appearance of a full - and somewhat foul-mouthed - choir on "To Whom It May Concern", confirming this is a band who won’t do it the right way if there’s a chance of doing it the fun way --Louis Pattison