‘Don’t like the old, Don’t like the young, I hate middle age, And Metallica’s “One”, Don’t like Idles, Or Mac DeMarco, I haven’t heard ‘em, I like Clarko’ (I Don’t Like Anything)

As you smile at the album’s title, you could be guilty of thinking that the return of Citric Dummies would see them continuing merrily along in the spirit of 2023’s Zen And The Arcade of Beating Your Ass.  And, in many respects, you would be spot on.  This is still rapid-fire melodic punk that bristles with a pugnacious hardcore snap, a raucous garage rock energy, and a deliciously irreverent rock’n’roll swagger.

Yet, it is also different.  There is a discernible increase in the intensity of their delivery – it feels bolder, tighter, and, dare one suggest it, even faster.  When a band’s persona is so rooted in the spirit of satire, it is easy for this to sometimes obscure the quality of their musicianship.  On Split With Turnstile, Citric Dummies robustly ensure that both elements of their music are absolutely to the fore.

From the utterly whiplash opening of I Don’t Like Anything and I Can’t Relate, the Minneapolis band are at full throttle as they sweep onto the solo fuelled climax to I Can’t Stand The Weekend and the wildly careering My Life’s A Total Sham.  This high-octane energy is matched only by their relish at revelling in life’s absurdities, both large and small.  Alienation from the anodyne, weekend nihilism, and soul sapping workplaces all get the treatment, as do the joys of a good Chinese takeaway and, of course, imagining life as a napkin.