Hey Colossus – Cuckoo Live Life Like Cuckoo

Member changes aside (Tim Cedar from the dearly departed Part Chimp now assumes drumming duties here), the prolific Hey Colossus hold on to their strengths with album number eight. From the moment Hot Grave blows the doors open with an unsettling combination of sleazy psych-rock riffs, twinkling synths and gravelly vocals, it's obvious there's a whole lot of steam left in the engine yet.

As ever, the London combo continue to take influence from drug-fuelled rock 'n roll sub-genres like sludge, doom and noise, yet they reliably fuse these elements together in fascinating ways. With its captivating guitar melodies, hypnotising bass-throbs and scattered vocal echoes, the lengthiest cut How To Tell The Time With Jesus is a masterful exercise in space-prog futurism. It's not all disorientating; ambient closer Pit and Hope admirably swaps loudness for subtle moodiness. A surprisingly varied, mind-altering experience all-round. [Ross Watson]