The Defects - Feed The Good Dog (2018)

'Feed The Good Dog’ is the third studio album from Belfast punk legends The Defects since they reformed in 2010.

The Defects may still arguably be best known for the original incarnation of the band’s one and only album, the wonderful ‘Defective Breakdown’ in 1983, but the current incarnation have built a fearsome reputation of their own through incendiary live shows and the previous albums, and this one can only build on that.

‘Feed The Good Dog’ pretty much picks up from where 2015’s rather fine ’45 Minutes’ left off, so if you liked that one, you’re guaranteed to like this one.

Opener ‘Another Promise Broken’ sets the pace with a fast and furious approach, echoed in tracks like ‘The Wisdom Of Norman’, ‘Made To Break’, ‘Third Time Lucky’ and ‘Theatre Of War’, all packed full of the kind of political and social commentary you’d expect from The Defects.

Best of the bunch for me is ‘Hunter Versus Hunter’, a punchy and very catchy tune with a killer chorus that would make an ideal single if bands still did that sort of thing, and later on it’s reprised as a great slice of dub reggae in the shape of ‘Action Junkie’.

The groove-laden ‘Arch Enemy’ and ’30 Billion Dollar Swindle’ add a different, twisted rock flavour to the album, whilst the closing track ‘Brotherhood Of Death’ is another highlight for me, once again a bit more in the rock direction with some powerful riffing. It’s tracks like these that show there’s a little bit more to The Defects than just your traditional punk rock fare.