Barely warmed by the heating and a crack in the window somewhere letting a thin breeze in, January is filled with horrors and we must turn away from the outdoors to survive. Face up to music, or at least an advance stream of New Model Army’s latest effort, Unbroken. The man listening in is certainly broken, with ringing ears and a cracked chair which is leaning ever-so-slightly to the right. It matters not. Unbroken is a steely piece from a band whose confidence assures listeners, for at least a little while. These alternative rock champions have served for decades and exactly forty years on from their debut, Vengeance, hopes to rise to the task of quality once more. They will not be the first to do so but are the first this year of those wizened hands and minds to succeed.
Harsh twangs and heavy guitar music are assured by Unbroken, with opener First Summer After far from disappointing. Its moody vocals, borderline spoken word but still holding the beat surrounding it, marks an exceptional momentum carried through by New Model Army with a real vigour and consistency. That is all they need – they set the standard early and carry the flames of these spirited workings, heavy and haunting numbers like Language linger on well. Flickers of thumping punk spirit can be heard on Union Jack-bashing Reload, a seething and venomous little number which engages the champagne-swilling swine. Those instrumentals lingering underneath though, palatably gothic. There is something borderline retro about them. Their punk fun and thrills are still as on point as they were when New Model Army were just cobbling their musical kit together.
Technically sound numbers like I Did Nothing Wrong and Cold Wind feature too, the neat and twisted terms of the instrumentals are the real highlights – a cold vocalist at the centre of this one works well though. Justin Sullivan still hones an explosive voice, utilising it to near-perfection on Coming or Going, the changing winds and the realisation of futility firmly planted. If I Am Still Me has the self-reflection necessary to a band lasting this long, but the bass and guitar work within it is frankly miles ahead of most post-punk, and with Joe Talbot of IDLES clearly grasping some inspiration from the vocal range Sullivan has, it is easy to slide New Model Army in as the champions of the genre so long after they continued kindling the flames of it.
With their backs against the wall and a real weight to their legacy hanging in the balance, New Model Army dusts themselves off and powers forth – like Earth last year – knowing the time to strike is now or never. Unbroken still hopes to mount challenging and unique material, just take penultimate number Idumea, an out-of-the-blue slice of influence which some artists would tuck away neatly and quietly. Not New Model Army, whose bold and crashing consistencies throughout their sixteenth studio album is a fine marker of quality for a band whose legacy is more than enough to carry them through. Perhaps it is just a prog rock issue then, a learning curve those bands of back then cannot mount. Punk moves on, frequently as ever, and New Model Army finds themselves on a similar, well-maintained footing to The Damned on their release, Darkadelic, last year.
