Axes – Glory

After years of wallowing in textured slow-builds and delicate sparseness, when exactly did post-rock gain muscles and shed its attention span? London-dwellers Axes may not be pioneers of its current tropes – mountain-high riffs, stop-start rhythms, a tendency to ponder ‘in which direction shall we take this song?’ and decide ‘ALL OF THEM’ – but they’re certainly amongst its most thrilling proponents. Second album Glory takes its cues from similar sources to contemporaries Brontide and Alpha Male Tea Party, resulting in a Technicolor melee that’s as thrilling as it is exhausting.

The hi-octane headrush of Junior seems to compress the entirety of pop-punk into one blurry mosh, before Plan Américain tumbles headfirst from the idea factory into a tangled mess of countrified maths. Other highlights feature luscious twinklecore explorations amidst cavernous power chords, but most beautiful is the soothing subtlety of Your Two: like goodnight kisses from the stars themselves. Glory then? Yep, just about covers it. [Will Fitzpatrick]