Lithium Zion

Some might say the pursuit of rocking out via deafening amplifiers, crusty drums and a beer-battered PA is a spiritual one, an affliction that either strikes or doesn’t. Few groups today embody this sentiment like Melbourne’s aptly-named Deaf Wish. They’re a grisly rock group and they’ve already signed to Sub Pop, which is to say they’ve already succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, so anything that comes after (performing in strange new cities, meeting like-minded souls, maybe even selling a t-shirt or two) is a bonus.

‘Lithium Zion’ is the band’s fifth full-length album (and second for Sub Pop following 2015’s ‘Pain’), and, while it’s a rare case that a group’s fifth album is their best, it may in fact be Deaf Wish’s finest. Their previous albums were recorded in makeshift studios – a wise choice for capturing the hazardous riffing, chemically-stained vocals and fiery rhythms conjured by a group such as this – but this step toward a slightly more professional sound only enhances their power.

The record opens with ‘Easy’, a languid rocker in the rich Australian tradition of groups like X and The Scientists. From there it’s onto ‘FFS’, a moody downhill rocker sung by guitarist Sarah Hardiman that confirms Deaf Wish’s relation to fellow Sub Pop employees like feedtime and Hot Snakes. ‘The Rat Is Back’ is tense and epic; ‘Hitachi Jackhammer’ pays a brief and noisy tribute to Hitachi’s second most notable device.

‘Lithium Zion’ is a veritable buffet of garage-punk energy, post-punk pathos, sardonic wit and the fearlessness that comes with Aussie rock, a natural consequence for anyone living on a continent teeming with grapefruit-sized spiders and man-eating mosquito swarms.

As has always been the case, the whole group shares vocal duties, even drummer Daniel Twomey (you know the band are slightly unhinged if they’re letting the drummer sing). Hardiman and Tjhung are as ragged and hairy as ever, chugging along as though Krautrock was trying to speed past the late 70s but got caught in the sticky grasp of punk. Such is the way of Deaf Wish, a group destined to write songs that are simultaneously stupid and sublime, vulnerable and ferocious and play them with the unbridled intensity they demand.

LP formats include digital download code.