Cowtown - Paranormal Romance

'Keep it to the point, you gotta keep it to the point,' Cowtown advise – vigorously – on appropriately titled track Motivational Speaker. Such wisdom goes some way to explaining how the Leeds punks have lasted 12 years without stopping for a single breather. Fourth LP Paranormal Romance is as audacious and frenetic as a teenage debut, but it carries the kind of clarity that only comes with hard-earned, hard-gigged experience.

On Tweak, joyful 'ooo-aaa-oohs' are punctuated by spiked, staccato guitar lines and relentless, sweaty drums; proper pop meets proper punk, so don't fear any accidental sightings of Tom Delonge. Cowtown push forward on every single second of Paranormal Romance for a breathless 12 tracks that prioritise fun over theatrics. On Castle Greyscale, the three piece even find joy in bleak suburban surrounds. When else has 'Pebble dash, grey scale, unapologetic design' ever sounded like something worth shouting about? Closer Emojicore (yep) takes the band down a thrillingly grittier road, and slams straight into satisfyingly abrupt conclusion. Phew. Concise, fundamental fun.