starvinhungryStarvin Hungry raise a game enough racket, mostly using the tried and tested formula perfected by the Pixies and popularised by Kurt Cobain: tightly wound verses exploding into screaming noisy choruses. The agile guitars fizz rather than roar and drums clatter away underneath it all. Starvin Hungry certainly could not be accused of calling in to question their underground status employing grandiose 'rock god' production. Fortunately the song writing on "Cold Burns" is strong enough to mitigate the occasionally one dimensional grind this band whip up once they get going. Underneath the unappealing surface are pop hooks aplenty with nods to the genius of Velvet Underground era Lou Reed on 'More' and a fully-developed understanding of 'classic' rock songwriting in evidence throughout. There is nothing new here and the guitars occasionally stray dangerously into 'boogie woogie' territory, but that's been a weakness of punk bands from the Sex Pistols onwards. Starvin Hungry are a fine example of the more musicianly type of punk rock and I imagine they would be as bracing as an early morning dip in an ice cold lake live. If you like your rock music noisy, well executed and cleverly structured this might be for you. I'm off to listen to something a bit more adventurous. -- nick ilott.
:: Starvin Hungry/Cold Burns - Signed By Force/Cargo.
