Drug Church – PRUDE

Label: Pure Noise Records
Released: 4th October 2024

At a cool, trim 28 minutes, Drug Church’s fifth album is another testament to the five-piece’s dedication to loud music. Proudly wielding their trademark gushing, melodic through line, ‘PRUDE’ starts with a solemn guitar before all hell breaks loose for the next half-hour.

With vocalist Patrick Kindlon firing on all cylinders, his diatribes still kicking up enough dust to cover everything from the state of the nation to questionable antics, as well as that weighty topic of morality, it’s another Drug Church album that leaves no stone unturned on their quest to unload the alchemy that runs so solidly between them.

There’s also an innate ability Drug Church hold dear throughout ‘PRUDE’, which is new to the party. They’ve found new ways to squeeze the heartfelt out of wildly eyebrow-raising scenarios. For instance, ‘Business Ethics’ narrates the story of dodgy ethics when at an impasse, with a call-along chorus of “Kidnap yourself / You’re the hostage here”. It’s a new reckoning of the emotive that pairs quite nicely with the brutalist and realist (‘Demolition Man’) nature Drug Church have become known for.

As ‘Peer Review’ sees the album off in true anthemic style, Drug Church rush down their best searing punk onslaught, closing their fifth outing with the dust settling, ready for whenever the next barrage will come.