Tough Love is a continuation of this unholy, but fantastic, mess created by their self-titled debut album. But Tough Love is a much more mature beast than PABH. That’s not saying it’s more tame; Tough Love is the musical equivalent of riding a bucking bronco while being shot with paintballs, but everything here seems tighter and more crisp than before.
PABH was a very raw, visceral album. Tough Love retains that, to some extent, but here the songs are more likely to push them towards becoming the festival destroying powerhouses they could be. The fact that the first single from the album, V.E.N.O.M., which has the ability to make even your most timid of grandparents want to smash their best china in joy is being played on Radio 1 is enough proof of where Tough Love is going.
Tom Hudson’s throaty screaming is back once again and very much the focus of the album, while James Brown’s slick riffs dominated PABH. ‘Wolf Hand’ sees Hudson screaming “When I was a kid, I was a dick but nothing changes” and ‘Epic Myth’ sees everyone’s ears being battered by Hudson’s guttural roar.
Tough Love is packed with songs which aim to either make you deaf, make you dance, make you break something or all three. Short, punchy and raw it keeps the flavour of Pulled Apart By Horses but straps a nitrous tank to the back and cranks it up to full. It’s nothing new but who honestly cares when you feel like you’re being thrown around the room, in the best possible way of course.
4/5
Recommended download: 'Shake Off The Curse'
