Refuse Boy - Fear of Beards

Slap! Records is a label that, contradictorily, releases albums by unsigned bands. Whether this is a good idea for Refuse Boy is questionable. While Fear of Beards gallops enthusiastically through a post-Sonic Youth field of punk anger, the band are clearly far from a finished proposition. Their two-guitar rock rarely deviates from the template established in the early 1980s and their proficiency is marred by the lack of either striking melodies or experimental bite. Sounding rather more like a well-recorded gig than a considered studio set, this album is one dimensional: the muscular rhythms and howling distortion tend to repeat, and one track blends into another. On tracks like Pognophobia or Mud, the band coheres and their youthful energy triumphs over their inexperience. But there isn't enough going on across forty minutes to justify an album and the weaknesses - from slack arrangements to limited vocals - are painfully exposed. [Margaret Kirk]