My sincere thanks to Chris for bringing this album to my attention because holy shit, it is so fucking good!

Drug Church are not a band I was familiar with before Mr Schulz shared this album’s first single “Million Miles Of Fun” and I found myself absolutely hooked. Most outlets call them post-hardcore, but you can hear a bit of noise rock, a bit of punk, a bit of grunge. Think somewhere between Brand New, Pixies and Fucked Up.

Clocking in at a scant 26 minutes-and-change, Hygiene is fairly relentless: it’s heavy, it’s fast paced, and the music is layered – guitars, bass and drums deployed as walls of sound that are closing in around you. It’s like the Star Wars trash compactor of albums, the pace and intensity building as the album moves along.

Lyrically, Patrick Kindlon is a font of one-liners about the state of the world. ‘These things I read about the way the world works / I lift the spoon to socket and dig my eyes out,’ he sings on “Million Miles Of Fun”. ‘If I do a double murder / What this song did for you doesn’t change an iota,’ he sings on “Detective Lieutenant”. ‘Staring inward all day / Indulgent self-involved navel gaze / A revolution in Belarus / I put my energies to other use,” he sings on “Piss & Quiet”.

I really, really enjoyed this album. It flies by – literally, it’s super-short – and leaves you wanting more. I think I might listen to it again right now. This might be my first real contender for album of the year.

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CLTM (Chris Listens To Music) is my attempt to listen to a new album every day; you can follow my efforts on Instagram here (and send recommendations), and if you like what I’m doing, support my efforts by shouting me a cuppa at Buy Me A Coffee.