Die! Die! Die! return in February 2022, bringing hope and excitement along with their semi-apocalyptic sonic terror vibes, desperate pleading vocals, heavy rock and punk music embellishments, driving bass melodies and usual solid songwriting.

Die! Die! Die! have their own formula – timeless, consistent, high energy, powerful, on the attack. This three-piece (bass players have varied over time) have been at it since 2003. Tāmaki Makaurau-based, but touring regularly, the hard yards showing in their proficiency as musicians and performers. Core members are Andrew Wilson (guitar, vocals) and drummer Michael Prain, with Lachlan Anderson (bassist from 2006-12) now well into his second term, after rejoining in 2018.

Alongside several EPs since 2005, this is their seventh album release. Recorded by Stephen Marr at Roundhead Studios late in 2020, and Darren McShane’s Earwig Studios in Birkenhead in the following year, as you’d imagine the subject matter and feel is infected with lockdown vibes. There’s suppressed rage, yet also hope in every sonic nugget.

Title track This Not An Island Anymore speaks of how operating entirely on self-interest will ultimately prove ruinous. It provides the perfect introduction, bringing the tension with a Big Black feel. ‘Can’t feel anything… not afraid to crash… selfish actions, many years’. At just on two-minutes long, Is Darren There is typical DDD, with bassline and drums as the melody line, furious guitars chiming over the top, punctuated with Wilson’s spoken and shouted vocals.

Past international tour partners and musical peers make their influence felt throughout – Slint, Black Flag, the aforementioned Big Black. Losing Sight, Keep On Kicking is a great example of a band not afraid to be outspoken – musically and lyrically – and proved DDD’s currency by topping the Student Radio Network charts late last year.

There are comments about New Zealand’s favourite dirty pastime – talkback radio on Vanish (but That’s My Hometown, Marcus), which is actually the most melodic track here. Album closer IMAGINE (Spending So Long Making Other People Feel Like Shit) sums up a lot of the negativity that has occurred even between ‘friends’ over recent years (‘…you’re not a very nice person’), cementing these nine tracks as a perfect snapshot in time.

A reinvigorating and cathartic short, sharp shock. You can always rely on Die! Die! Die! for that.