‘Doctor, doctor, would you agree? Strong teeth and minds aren’t just for the bourgeoisie, Doctor, doctor, what do you see? A future medical system that’s safe and free?’ (Medicareless)

Hailing from Perth, Sooks trade in fiercely honed hardcore punk.  Its bare essentials are delivered with a tightly bristling aggression, yet it is the band’s ability to seamlessly shift gears that, perhaps, most seizes the attention.  The key to this dynamic is an absolutely rampant display from lead vocalist, Ange, who segues from the stridently assertive to the sardonically rhythmic by way of death metal grunts and off-kilter flares of melody without a breath being taken.  This febrile shapeshifting rather brings Petrol Girls to mind in terms of both it’s virtuosity and utterly uncompromising attitude.  Personal stand outs include the stomping Lithium Delirium, the wonderfully unhinged Medicareless, and the raucous Idiom/Idiot.

Lyrically, the album’s 14 tracks explore the full breadth of our current social predicament.  Economic inequity is the focus of U.D. (‘Contribution means nothing if it can’t be measured in numbers) and Lithium Delirium (‘Drive an hour to the mortgage belt, Cookie cutter living hell’).  Medicareless tackles the relentless privatisation of healthcare, while Content Machine (‘Attention starve, My optical nerve, Temporal carve, My time ain’t free’) and Quiet Quitting (‘Simmer super slowly with your rage, Corpospeak makes me want to be the change’) feast on the twin contemporary evils of social media and stultifying work.  And an assured feminist framing is also riven through the album, most visibly on The Bends (‘My body is more than it can produce’) and Cycles (‘Boost my iron with the moon, Destroy my cocoon’).