Part Chimp – IV
For most artists, a first studio album in seven years is as much cause for apprehension as excitement. However, so granite tough were Part Chimp’s previous endeavours, so unflinchingly slaying were the riffs of their three full LPs (and CD-Rs, live releases and 7''s) that there’s little threat of diminishing returns here.
The introductory piano on 6 Music-playlisted opener Namekuji teases a swerve that lasts a few seconds, before it settles into the sort of uncanny hookery amid crushing dynamics that the returning London noise-rock behemoths have always executed brilliantly. Tracks like MapoLeon and The Saturn Superstition rollick by with the strains of early 90s American stoner-rock that’ve always been in their DNA, while the likes of Bouncer’s Dream are akin to trying not to throw up overboard in their lurching uneasiness.
Ultimately IV is Part Chimp 101 – a righteous addition to their canon whether a newcomer or long-time devotee.
Listen to: Bouncer's Dream, Namekuji
Buy Part Chimp – IV on LP/CD from Norman Records