LOVE BUZZARD's sound brought back memories of watching psychedelic rock bands in a club in Cape Town (South Africa), where one had to ascend a somewhat rickety set of stairs to go and watch the bands. Their music has an addictive groove; I could imagine myself headbanging and/or dancing along to these songs. Sadly, the band called it quits this month (August), but at least they were able to leave us a fun debut full-length album.

LOVE BUZZARD is a noisy (in a good way) clash of rock, heavy metal and punk, with other elements sprinkled in here and there. Opener "Cash" is a loud, punky number, with rough, "bourbon-soaked vocals" (as the band describes the vocals in their Bandcamp bio). The track slows down for a brief moment, then keeps the listener's heart beating with a return to speed. "Headrush" brings more of the speedy punk vibes. Throughout the album, Al Brown keeps the tracks driving forward, and provides a solid surface, off which Kevin Lennon ricochets at blinding speeds. Brown's opening drum fill in "Superglue" proved to be an earworm of note. Those tom beats are still going around in my head. Lennon provides an equally catchy chorus.

After the rowdiness of "Superglue", the next track slows things down a bit. "Wild" starts with a laid-back vibe and strummed guitars. The music then transitions to dirty rock, before the softer guitars come in again. Another slower moment is found in "Heaven's Got An Electric Fence", which sprinkles in some surf rock, and Spanish-guitar-like riffs. The band know how to pace themselves; the slower tracks balance out the wilder tracks. However, the slower tracks also manage to avoid detracting from the overall energy of the album.

"Creep and Crawl" sees more of a distinctive rock sound coming out, as does "Origins". The latter has a slow beginning, before jumping up to hurl itself into walls, metaphorically speaking. "Antifistamines" has some distinct rock guitar phrases, and a great vocal performance from Lennon.

While some might dismiss this band as nothing more than manic noise makers, others will be thrilled by LOVE BUZZARD's high-octane punk/thrash metal/rock blend. Be warned, you may have a hard time getting the ear worms to leave once you've finished the album!