The third studio effort from the Bristol, England-based hard rock outfit, The Free Life delivers a tightly wound set of nervy roomshakers that meld the machine-like precision of Muse (minus the melodrama) with the kinetic garage punk attack of Royal Blood and Band of Skulls. Despite a very brief spoken word intro, fiery opener "No No No" wastes little time getting to the point, unleashing a barrage of muscular distortion, forceful drumming, and a potent vocal performance from frontman Chris Georgiadis that brings to mind Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins. A bombardment of guest vocalists lend their tonsils to like-minded follow-ups "Capital X" (Idles' Joe Talbot), "Cheap Magic" (Death from Above's Sebastien Grainger), "Very Bad" (Vodun's Chantal Brown), and "Domino" (Royal Blood's Mike Kerr), with the gutsy latter cut serving as the LP's second single. With the exception of the reverb-laden psych-folk closer, "Concluder," volume reigns supreme throughout The Free Life, though the compression-heavy production can sometimes put a hurting on the overall dynamics -- even the slow-burn title track, which ramps up like a hand-cranked machine gun, can't break out of its own self-imposed sonic stratosphere. Still, Turbowolf's beefy riffs, hook-driven choruses, and sinewy post-punk/new wave aesthetic remain compelling throughout, especially when all three of those predilections rise to the forefront, as they do on the feisty, handclap-happy "Halfsecret," the Gary Numan-esque "Up & Atom," and the unyielding and decidedly pit-ready "Blackhole." They're still trying to find the sweet spot between Sunset Strip sleaze, Brit-pop, the early-2000s garage rock revival, and the punchy, architectural weirdness of Queens of the Stone Age, but on album number three, Turbowolf have never sounded more self-assured. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

1		No No No
2		Capital X
3		Cheap Magic
4		Very Bad
5		Halfsecret
6		Domino
7		Last Three Clues
8		Up & Atom
9		Blackhole
10		The Free Life
11		Concluder

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