Here's one that threatened to slip under the radar....

.....and with cover art that marks a massive departure from the band's previous album maybe we shouldn't be surprised. That album, 'Hell Hath No Fury', the band's first album for Hellcat Records, paraded a cover full of highly desirable female punk rockers that, unfairly, probably fuelled unsavoury comments levelled at the band by certain factions of the punk fraternity. Maybe a darker cover image would go some way towards shifting attitude towards the music rather than the look?

That, of course, could have been reason enough if Civet hadn't experienced even more unsavoury moments in the months previous to the release of this album; touring with Nashville Pussy in November, the rhythm section of the band, Jacqui Valentine on bass and Roxie Darling on drums, unexpectedly walked out on the band midway through the tour, with Darling quitting the music business altogether to enrol in med school. With their new album already recorded, this was a move that surely threatened the future of the band. But, in a suitably gutsy move that should have at least silenced some critics, the core duo of Liza Graves and Suzi Homewrecker carried on regardless and have now recruited Jonny Grill and Christian Riersgard - bass and drums respectively - to the band. That's right, Civet are no longer an all-girl band.....

With 'Love & War' already in the can before the split the darker, grittier tone to some of the songs and, as previously mentioned, the album cover itself were obviously decided before the release date but there is no doubting that the events that happened at the tail end of 2010 have certainly added to the mood of Civet in 2011. 'Can't Go Back', the album's opening song, is a good indicator of the kind of track that hangs around the record. Long have the band been compared to The Distillers but, where in the past that may have been simply inferred, this song offers aural comparison too.

First single 'L.A. Nights', like the track 'Sunset Strip', throws up the now-standard punk rock name place shout-out that, just, manages to still teeter on the edge of cool. The fact that both songs are three chord treasures helps of course, with the anthemic chorus of the former being one of the album's highlights. And talking of punk standards; 'Come On (I Wanna Be Your Girl)' channels the ghost of the seminal Stooges classic and speaks in tongues, generally the one that reminds of Joan Jett. Brave, yet pretty friggin' cool.

On the album's broodier moments there certainly appears to be a Patti Smith vibe but that's not to say that Civet have abandoned the infectious choruses of old; the great 'Buy My Love' would sit happily on a Rancid album while the mix of bubblegum spiked hook and dream girlfriend backing vocals on tracks like 'Deadbeat' and 'I'm Not The One' guarantee that portions of this record will hang around your head for at least a few days. There are subtler moments, 'It's The Truth' and album closer 'You Get What You Pay For', but with songs like 'Go Underground' you remember why Civet were talked about as being a new Runaways.

But 'Love & War' is the start of a new era for the band, one that may be tinkered with slightly given the fact that the band that recorded the album is no more. That record, though, is a much more mature effort than its predecessor and, although possibly less 'instant' than that previous release, will at least see Civet treading water while they regroup and clean their wounds. The band's next album will be of great interest and, maybe, decisive to their future. But at least they have a future because lesser bands - greater bands with lesser spirit even - would have crumbled had they experienced what Graves and Homewrecker have this Winter.

www.myspace.com/civet