No Cigar: Under the Surface (digital outlets)

Although No Cigar have made an impression on the local charts we get the impression they are still not as well known as they should be.

We have always rated them in our other life reviewing singles for The Listener, for example when writing about their recent, menacingly chugging single Clean in advance of this album we noted they had two solid albums behind them and were not as risk averse as many of their peers.

This album is further evidence of that: few bands would open an album with a nagging single note running through the first third of an uncomfortable song which isn't in a hurry to establish a hook before it leans into the throat-gripping angst of Nirvana and early Radiohead.

That's No Cigar's uncompromising title track here before the catchy claustrophobia of Clean and the shapeshifting Chantilly, named for the picturesque French town north of Paris where they wrote many of the Under the Surface songs.

Chantilly moves effortlessly from assertive rock to spacious balladry with chiming guitars as it candidly addresses career uncertainty: “Something better come from this . . . if it doesn't we'll have wasted nearly all our golden years”.

For a rock band, No Cigar also default to more muted modes. Oh Behave and Problem could easily be explosive but their downward mood adds dynamics to an album which rarely takes the easy route (the ominous Merci Merci), lets guitarist Josh Morrice strike effective solo shapes when required (the appropriately desperately sounding, gritty Ketamine) and indulges in chipping New Wave (Cherry Blossom Girl, their most straight-head pop-rock song).

Although Willy Ferrier's occasional vocal affectations may dull the experience if taking Under the Surface in a single sitting, the lithe tunes, interesting lyrics and smart production confirm No Cigar take risks.

Calculated, but risks nonetheless.

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You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here