About 6 months after it was released, I’m finally going to write about the new Sweet Reaper record. I thought I already had, but clearly not. Besides, it’s meant I have been listening to it non stop the past few days and by no means is that a terrible thing.

Sweet Reaper makes that good stuff. That real gnarly Garage Rock music that hits you in the soul. The kind of music that makes you feel less alone with feeling lonely and a bit useless. There’s something about that fuzzy guitar and powerful vocals that just hit you, and the drums are like euphoric crashes to the soul. It’s a fantastic record, and to be honest, it just reinforces my love for them.

Closer Still is just a feel good record, and you cannot help but forget your trouble for that half hour or so as you listen to these blistering songs. Again, it is another record you wish you could see being performed live, but the universe is on it’s arse at the moment and we can’t do shit. I hope when this all ends Sweet Reaper make their way to the UK and blow us all away with their brilliance. There’s only 3 of them in the band, but don’t let that for a second make you think they are tame and are afraid to be loud. Far from it!

This trio knows exactly how to deafen the listener in the most pleasing way possible. Don’t believe me? Play Car Crash loud through headphone, and you’ll understand. Dead Man is the song you can imagine the crowd pogoing to so furiously and probably causing damage to their bodies- but why do we care?! It’s all part of the fun. And fun is one of the many things that this glorious record is.

The record has 11 songs to just blow you away, and aside from that, you cannot help but be in awe of the slick production on this record. It’s got that strong DIY/lo-fi feel, and this is one of the many things that makes this such an incredible record. Is it their best work so far? Damn right it is. You can really hear something different on this record, and it’s on songs like Faster Getaway and Sidewalk Psycho. The latter being one of the really loud moments on the record. They aren’t afraid to mellow out on some songs, just like they don’t shy away from being brutally loud on some of the songs. It’s such a strong record, and if you’ve been obsessed with it for the past 6 months- you’ll get exactly why.

You just wish you could crawl deep into the safety net of this record, and let it shield you from the shit that’s going on. But, that’s why one of the most freeing things we can do is play music loud in our homes and just shut the world out for a bit. Same Nightmare is one of my favourites at the moment but given I’ve had nearly 6 months to really soak up this record- I do change my mind a lot. I’ve got a lot of time for this song; there’s something about the lyrics and the whole creation of this song that just sticks with me. You can go between playing the record in order or putting it on shuffle, or whatever.

Every song sounds perfect regardless of the order you listen to it, and for me that’s what makes it such a standout record. Of course it’s best to listen in order, then allow yourself to just let it play however you want. It just works. If the order of the record meant that Sad Eyes was the opener rather than Sidewalk Psycho, the record would still have this same feel. I guess that’s what makes it correct in calling this a perfect record. Every single song deserves its place, and is such a joy to listen to.

As long as we have bands like Sweet Reaper, maybe, just maybe- we’ll be alright.