The Living End - White Noise

Rating:

* * * *

Ten years ago, a little-known band from Melbourne released their  debut album. The record blew up, topping the Australian charts and winning a spate of awards.

Some say The Living End have spent the past decade trying to emulate the success of that self-titled record; that the strain continued to accumulate until vocalist Chris Cheney finally walked out in 2006.

Listening to

Moment in the Sun

, which reflects on that time, there's no doubting the band were in a pretty bleak place. "There's nothing left for us anymore/ So please don't be concerned/ If we never return/ Because there's nothing left for us here."

Fortunately, the band regrouped. And

White Noise

- their fifth studio album - is the band's best offering since that original release. Filled with pronounced solos and reeling guitars, the band have toned down their frenetic punk energy and moved towards more classic rock sensibilities. Indeed, the refrain of title-track

White Noise

is strangely similar to that of Coldplay's latest single,

Violet Hill

.

Lyrically, the album is the band's best work to date.

Loaded Gun

hears a politically charged narrative backed by equally searing guitar riffs. A song that stays with you for days.

From the dark, bass-driven beat of

Make the Call

to the upbeat, classic pop rock of

Kids

,

White Noise

reveals a band reinvigorated.

Joanna Hunkin