★★★★☆

Calling your band Going Swimming and putting a song called ‘Shark Attack’ on your debut record can only mean one thing: you see piss-taking as a duty rather than an option.

A quick glimpse at the Deadtime Stories tracklist provides confirmation: song titles include ‘Yoko, Oh No!’, ‘Cosmonauts And Crosses’ and the supremely satisfying ‘I Think I’ve Been Had, Lads’.

Ramshackle garage-punk is the vehicle that takes the Melbourne quartet’s howling horror stories and tales of debauchery on a gutter-bound journey, but while the whole deal threatens to fall apart at any second, the band just about holds it together until the final chords ring out. Single and opener ‘Them Shakes’ wastes no time getting among the surf-punk licks, with lyrics that could pass for both a bedtime story about friendly monsters or a transcript from your latest therapy session; whichever suits the mood. ‘Your Sister’ follows in a similar vein; its commanding and raucous riffs hint at the scrappy punk aesthetic being a construct rather than a necessity, although ‘Whatever Happened To The Plan?’ suggests the contrary.

Nick Leggatt’s tireless bawling and Aswin Lakshman’s red-hot riffs are at the centre of Going Swimming’s piss-taking punk, and make for an album that is frantic, frayed and damn good fun.

Going Swimming‘s Deadtime Storiesis out independently on 25 September.

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