Emerging from the depths of Bristol in the summer of 2017, you can’t help but feel that Heavy Lungs are a product of their environment. A city that can be viewed through many different lenses, All Gas No Brakes mirrors the city’s Jekyll and Hyde-like qualities. At first glance, Bristol could be seen as a city that tends to linger in darkness but, taking a second look, those same eyes can’t help but notice a place packed with joy, the occasional spell of sunshine and a thriving, young population that is an amalgam of different cultures and identities. Those sentiments are reflected by drummer George Garratt who posits that “Living here, it’s hard not to see the scars the city can leave. Like burning your bare leg skin on the exhaust of a motorbike—inconvenient and painful, but not without its equal share of humour and self reflection.”
From their early days of writing and recording their first EP within months of forming, Heavy Lungs have demonstrated a hunger from the get-go and after touring extensively across the UK and Europe (and dropping a further two EPs in the process), the band have honed their craft diligently and developed an unique, unbreakable bond that has seen them go from strength to strength, even through the torrid time of a global pandemic. Freshly signed to Alcopop! Records for 2023 and now sitting on the precipice of finally releasing an album they finished recording in the initial pandemic aftermath of 2021, it is an album that delivers exactly what its title suggests – a frantic, ferocious and seriously fun ride.
Setting out their stall early with opening track ‘Matryoshka’, the band’s penchant for hooks and biting sense of humour are on full display, taking little more than a couple of minutes to offer up the album’s first instantly memorable vocal refrain in the form of ‘shoot from the hip’. Following this is the infectiously groovy title track; a song so toe-tappingly, hip-shakingly brilliant, not a single soul will remain static on their upcoming October UK tour. A track filled to the brim with ridiculously silly lines so expertly delivered by frontman Danny Nedelko, it is impossible not to crack a smile, with the standout example of ‘Vampires at night, I’m Wesley Snipes’ having a shout of being the coolest line of 2023. Pulsing along over the course of just over 4 minutes and showing off a hugely hummable riff from guitarist Oliver Southgate, ‘All Gas No Brakes’ is a perfect title for a perfect song.
“A track filled to the brim with ridiculously silly lines so expertly delivered by frontman Danny Nedelko, it is impossible not to crack a smile.”
The static drenched ‘Late To The Party’ keeps that pace up before previously released single ‘Dancing Man’ rears its simplistic yet menacing head, proving to be threatening and catchy in equal measure. Featuring awkward electronics, impassioned shrieks and rumbling, hypnotic bass thwacks from James Minchall, this is one of the album’s standout moments. The subdued opening of ‘Angle Grinder’ is immediately juxtaposed by its unsettling, torturous opening lyrics and later offers up another fine example of the band’s ability to craft ear worms as ‘Stuck in a loop, reload, reboot’ is etched into your brain immediately and it is clear to see that this is a song tailor made for larger crowds and festival audiences. Frontman Danny Nedelko’s exaggerated enunciation sees him rolling more Rs than Sirius Black in what is a sublime showcase from a man who has charisma seeping out of every pore.
‘Plagiarism’’s prophetic line of ‘great artists borrow, great artists steal’ is appropriate but it isn’t meant as a slight whatsoever; this band take the best parts of modern post-punk from bands like fellow Bristolians IDLES and blend it with the genre’s more sinister 1980s originators to an exceptional standard. The pounding rhythm section of seventh track ‘Head Tilter’ is underpinned throughout by discordant guitar work before ‘It’s Been’’s meandering riff slithers into listeners’ ear canals, spiralling more and more chaotically, conjuring the feeling of being a trapped in a fairground with no escape as it reaches its dizzying conclusion.
Danny and the boys then reaffirm their aspirations for world domination with the outstanding ‘Rock Paper Scissors’ feeling like a mainstream Trojan Horse with its mission statement of ‘Rock paper scissors, I’m playing for keeps’. With the air of a band who are going to become an ever present in coming years, the pace increases exponentially in what is the album’s most frantic segment yet before petering out in low-key fashion. The album’s clattering penultimate track ‘2 Hot 2 Ride’ then careers into existence in the most relentless, circle pit inducing way and, with its mixture of speeding solos and gang vocals, delivers the most ‘UP THE PUNX’ 95 seconds on the whole album.
Bringing an already sublime album to its end is equally sublime closing track ‘Sometimes People Just Explode’, a sub-4 minute corker that feels like a slow burning fuse which sees enigmatic frontman Nedelko’s vocals become more gravelly and oppressive throughout. As a body of work, All Gas No Brakes is the result of years of overcoming adversity and striving for success and, in that process, Heavy Lungs have crafted a truly brilliant, impressive and memorable debut with an overarching narrative of ‘giving it your all’ being conveyed throughout by stunning songwriting and a cheeky, downright enviable sense of humour and self-worth.