“When I was a kid, I was a dick. But nothing changes!” screams Tom Hudson over the deafening roar of ‘Wolf Hand’. But while his self-deprecating honesty is refreshing, it’s not entirely true – much has changed since PABH’ eponymous debut album. Where that record was held together by guitarist James Brown’s slick riffin’, ‘Tough Love’ is an album jam-packed with songs – proper, festival slaying, career-making songs. Hudson’s throaty scream, too, has become more visceral than ever and on ‘Shake Off The Curse’ it’s his larynx-shredding chorus that grabs the song by the scruff of its scrotum and throws it into overdrive. But while the riffs are as primal and terrifyingly brilliant as we’ve come to expect, perhaps the biggest success of ‘Tough Love’ is the extent to which PABH have mastered the art of holding back. ‘Epic Myth’, in particular, channels Craig Nichols and The Vines for a verse and chorus, setting the ears up for an almighty battering when Hudson finally unleashes his primordial roar. ‘Some Mothers’ is the kind of guttural punk screamalong that’ll have you tearing out your eyes with excitement. More than that, it’s exactly the kind of floor-filler they’ll need to cram the arenas ‘Tough Love’ should propel them towards.

Matt Glass