Album Review: Nightclub Version Of The Eternal

With their largest (and longest) tour to date over and done with, The Howling Hex have maintained their record of an album every six months by funneling their experiences into the golden hour of rock and roll that is Nightclub Version Of The Eternal.

While their previous albums - All Night Fox, 1-2-3 and the audio-visual extravaganza that was You Can't Beat Tomorrow - explored frontier sounds and sampled local cultures, Nightclub Version Of The Eternal's approach is far broader.

Socially conscious slogans are chanted on How Many Steps Now, Good Things Are Easy and Six Pack Days, backed by Rolling Stones-style riffs and rattling percussion. The New Border Sound, which chief Hex-man Neil Michael Hagerty forged while recording with Royal Trux, has been fine-tuned; Hammer And Bluebird and Lips Begin To Move are amongst his the band's greatest moments, with simple melodies and rhythms fuelled by African mantra-style patterns.

Nightclub Version Of The Eternal is both challenging and accessible, and exactly the kind of pioneering epic that The Howling Hex have always threatened to make.