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As music fans lapped up all manner of watered down chancers during the post-hardcore/emo boom of the early part of the millennium, it was hard not to spare a thought for Planes Mistaken For Stars. Their gritty, rough and discordant punk always came laced with melody and imbued with the spirit of classic rock’n’roll, and they made records that, in another era, would have seen them critically lauded. But it never happened for them.
It would be over-optimisitic to suggest that their first album in a decade will see them right those wrongs, but if you miss the sound of driving, clattering punk rock that intends to challenge you with odd song structures and a variety of influences pulled from post-rock and lo-fi indie, then songs like She Who Steps or the piano led, whiskey-throated lament of Black Rabbit will make you very happy indeed. And whilst this sounds very much a product of a bygone era, meaning that it might be a tough sell for a younger generation, there can be no arguing with the quality of songs present here.
