Puffer

***Montreal five-piece Puffer is the midpoint between hardcore and dirty ol' rock'n'roll—part Poison Idea going dumpster-diving outside the garages of Melbourne's punk scene, part Fucked Up playing their X records on a rotary sander. They're equally at home with a pacy blur of riffs as they are going for a four-to-the-floor stomp; either way, the ragged larynx sits perfectly astride the roar, while the guitars go full Bob Stinson at his too-drunk-to-fuck-up best. You can practically hear the leather jackets creaking between phrases. This is music to move to. So what better place to start with this band than an LP compiling their must-have demo from 2022 and the remarkably excellent self-titled EP that followed in 2023? Originally released by New York's increasingly-essential label Roachleg Records, these two highly digestible bursts of punk'n'roll complement each other perfectly. Whether you get your giddy thrills from the raw-as-hell likes of opener "Suffering," or from the non-more-anthemic, holy-shit-I-need-to-bang-my-skull-against-the-wall double whammy of "Sister Marie" and "Hard Way To Go," you are guaranteed to find something to love here. You could always try hitting yourself with that plank, but you'll probably find you return to this more often. Drunken Sailor delivers the goods again.