New Pleasure

It is reassuring to note that punk is no longer the preserve of insipid, Sum 182-style bands and other abominations of their ilk. With a quintet like Priors, punk becomes exciting, dangerous, irreverent and subversive again. For these Montrealers, everything is based on attack and energy. The sound is saturated, the rhythms anxious, the guitars abrasive and sharp, and the vocals distorted. Behind this amalgam, however, there’s a hint of new wave and a certain “pop” contour that gives the group a slightly different image and sound. Over 14 tracks and about 30 explosive minutes, New Pleasure turns out to be one of the best punk (or post-punk) albums we’ve heard in the last two or three years.