Les Savy Fav - OUI, LSF

An unexpectedly triumphant return from semi-dormancy is almost par for the course for a band that has lived by its own rules, but if there's one act that enjoys confounding expectations, it's New York punks Les Savy Fav.

In many ways, 'OUI, LSF' is a further twist in the band's story. Not many acts drop an album that rivals their most fabled output nearly three decades deep, but Les Savy Fav have used the extended hiatus well, coming back with 14 songs chock-full of purpose, attitude, and humour.

However, one thing that is certain is that they've made the most consistent album of their career. From brooding opener 'Guzzle Blood' to euphoric closer 'World Got Great', 'OUI, LSF' doesn't skip a beat. Les Savy Fav have often been prone to over-exuberance, reflected in their ostentatious live show and scattergun recorded output, but this is battle-ready, honed and hardened.

At turns sexy and sleazy, cuts like 'Limo Scene' and 'Legendary Tippers' are prime Les Savy Fav, fun and edgy, mixing sexual innuendo with outlandish cover stories (the former a "sex-ghost" song, the latter a club night for the ages). They work because they're preposterous stories told by a devilish – if not wholly reliable – narrator. It's a similar story on standouts 'Void Moon' and 'Mischief Night'.

Elsewhere, 'Oi! Division' dials up the new wave influence with a cheeky nod to the B-52s, while 'What We Don't Don't Want' has a call-and-response moment that will slay live, where Les Savy Fav are in their element.

And, ultimately, that's where Les Savy Fav's songs live and die. To that end, it doesn't really matter if 'OUI, LSF' is good or bad; it's whether these songs have the bones about them to translate to their chaotic live show. Do they serve as a suitable accompaniment for vocalist Tim Harrington's mayhem? The answer there is a resounding yes…