Declaring war on the zillion bands who have appeared off the backs of bands like the Arctic Monkeys and Pulp, The Despondents come from Yorkshire but quite proudly have sweet fuck all in common with the student angst and shoe gazing cunts with their floppy hair, check shirts, cider and black and cords; instead Yorkshire has given birth to a wonderful slop 'n' roll band that peddle a blistering brand of garage punk rock with the middle digit firmly in the air.

Into the Despondents melting pot they've slung in a healthy dose of Ramones riffs, Stooges riffs, a bit of the Buzzcocks here and there as well as some right snotty spirit of '77 attitude, t'is indeed a wonderful racket these boys make. There are no pretences here it's just good old honest sloppy punk rock and it doesn't take long to realise that this band has the chops, just take 'California' for example with all its surfin' drum intro and guitar lick, it sure does paint a wonderful picture and one that California hasn't seen since the Joneses were in their pomp. 'Got Nothing To Lose' hammers along on a vibe that reminds me of the first few Hellacopters EP's or the underrated D4's - lots of rough arsed guitars and some fuzzed up vocals. 

There is no let up in the pace nor the quality to be fair and there are some real gems on offer out of the 14 tracks that are wedged into this album. 'You Stupid Girl' is as much fun you can have on a cd without it being  illegal. These boys show their claws and gnash their incisors on the breakneck  'Gotta Getaway (England Sucks)'  but, hey boys, it's not that bad, don't be so hard on yourselves - England currently has some pretty shit hot bands delivering the goods in spades, trust me I know.

'If God Exists' throws a curve ball that makes things interesting with a great garage run on the old geetar but it's joined by a quirky keyboard that just fits, pure Naz Nomad and the Nightmares, quality! The next few songs sound like they could have been penned in the late 70's - 'So Hung Up On You' rides around your head on a Steve Jones Pistols lick which actually reminds me of something Hanoi might have knocked out in the early days. 

A record where the songs are all around the 2 minute mark and pretty much all have great hooks and killer choruses. The UK seems to have hit on a few bands at the moment who are causing a bit of a stir and hopefully we might be seeing the seeds of a cool scene where real bands gig and put out shit hot records.

To my list of quality bands I can now add The Despondents. If you're still fed up with England sucking then why not hop over the border into Wales? We'll have you and your beautiful noise.

www.myspace.com/thedespondents