Cancer Bats - Psychic Jailbreak

Label: Bat Skull Records / New Damage Records

Released: 15th April 2022

Rating: ★★★★

It feels like Cancer Bats are ready to start again on ‘Psychic Jailbreak’.

Without the signature sound of Scott Middleton’s pick-squeals, the band sound refocused with a youthful punk edge; with songs about touring (shoutout to Milton Keynes and Aberdeen) and screams of “My life was saved by a skateboard” on ‘Hoof’ are like hallmarks of bands far more junior than these well-travelled bats. Elsewhere, the titular track and the sludgy ‘Hammering On’ tap into some transcendentalism as they begin to explore the possibilities of what this new era of Cancer Bats could be. It makes for a sensational album that sounds like a band in mid-metamorphosis.

The huge hole left by Scotty’s absence undoubtedly would have had them written off by a few people but instead Cancer Bats have shown no signs of slowing down. If anything, they’ve somehow found another gear. There is still a long road ahead for them.