Underwire. My mates band, and I don’t care that I give them good reviews, because their music is bloody good and it’s my site so there! New single Gloves Off is still ringing in my lugholes, and I don’t know how but this one is the best one yet.

We’ve got some rich guitar layering, with some fabulous chord work that sounds like the odd Major 7 is dropped in there for the emotive effect. And how well it achieves! A lot of that 70s New Wave stuff carried a lot of genuine, classy commercially capable yet alternative melody and composition that you will also find on this number. Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle were famous for the more catchy stuff they released with the Buzzcocks, for example.

This track puts me in mind, with the composition, Scott Seabright’s mega work in the studio, and the tune, of those cheeky Essex boys Eddie & The Hotrods. In Gloves Off we have an up-tempo song, the classic dirty guitars that are synonymous with Underwire, but also some great plugged-in acoustic guitar. Johnny‘s vocal is augmented with some well-constructed harmonies, and the tune is catchy as all hell while retaining the punk roots the band is never going to let go of. And I am glad they ain’t letting go – these guys are excellent at this stuff.

There’s a blistering guitar solo in here that got me headbanging at my desk. There’s a nicely timed, and crystal clear, naughty F word in the song. Just the one though. It’s not added gratuitously though; with the message behind the lyrics being a grand ol’ F*** YOU to the narcissistic billionaires currently eating up global resources, and asking if a handful of them can shoot themselves into space, why don’t we shoot the lot of them into space? Get back to anti-establishment rebellion and calls to arms, why dontcha! My kind of punk rock! The F bomb is very much an integral part of the message.

There’s no vid yet – but they tell me they are working on getting that right before releasing on the You Tubes. Underwire has got it right yet again for me, and they elevate their profile as recording artists alongside their decades of live experience with every release. This is deserving of airplay all over the place, and the vid needs some Juice TV. I am going to enjoy it in the car, on the choo choo, all sorts of things. I can’t sing its praises enough, because this is genuinely a class track.

Watch out for that Underwire – it’ll pinch.