More Songs About Frustration And Self Hate

For their first full-length release, Stewart Anderson introduces yet another new lineup (guitarist Matty Green and bassist Nicola Hodgkinson, both of whom would actually manage to stick around for more than one release), but keeps true to the Boyracer ethos: these 24 songs (including a pair of untitled screamers at the end) are noisy post-punk rock & roll on the very edge of competence. The musicians are barely capable of starting and stopping at the same time and mono-named drummer Kevin makes Helen Wiggin sound like Maureen Tucker, yet these limitations don’t seem to matter much. Anderson’s cathartic punk rock howls and charmingly self-effacing attempts at writing proper pop songs would probably sound awfully slight if presented in a more straightforwardly professional manner; as it stands, More Songs About Frustration & Self-Hate will win no fans among those who cringe at the idea of lo-fi musical primitivism, but those with a bit of patience and a taste for noise will find much to offer. – Stewart Mason