This is the sixth full-length album from Preston Sam’s Hyperjax. Occupying the punk end of the psychobilly spectrum whilst maintaining the classic three-piece instrumentation of upright bass, guitar and drums. This album is a classic example of pop punk with a strong sense of melody that will appeal to fans of psychobilly, punk and a great deal of others beside. This is a very good album.

Straight out of the gates, Sam Wood’s Hyperjax reach one hundred miles an hour with a jet-fuelled rush on the title track that for the first two bars sounds a bit like the Spacewasters, which is no bad thing in my book. A quick perusal of the lyrics indicates a depth that is absent from almost all of the acts on the rockin’ scene.  The eponymous song deals with the various problems associated with housing, be it encroachment on the greenbelt or gentrification pricing out locals.

‘Stranded in Skelmersdale’ is rich in pop-punk melody with an appropriately melodic guitar solo. All in all, this is a very good song.

‘Bad Luck Charm’ slows the pace a little and centres around quite a nice little riff

‘Damnation Here We Go’ ups the ante in terms of pace with some furious slapping. Sam’s vocals are really strong on this track. This is one of my favourites on the album. The themes explored in this song include the sewage pollution that privatisation failed to solve, as well as issues of poverty, inflation and food shortages.

‘The Scapegoat, is a wonderful exercise in pop punk. It has it all in terms of melody, pace, delivery and catchy chorus.

‘The Way You Used to Call’ is a very nice mid-paced rocker with an excellent guitar solo.

Side B begins with ‘Ain’t That a Kick in the Teeth’ a nice melodic number.

‘The Charmed Life of Barry Sheen’ is a stomper of a track with perhaps the most psychobilly-sounding riff.

‘Just Passing Through’. Features some musicianship, including the drums from Neil Holden and slap-bass from Dan Clark

‘A Greener Grass’ is a straight-ahead rocker.

‘Life in the Shifting Sands’ begins with stabs of guitar before the drums kick in. There is a very nice guitar solo mid-way through the track.

‘The Train You Never Caught’ has a strong melody and is a catchy number with which to close the album.

This is an album that would happily grace any record collection, do the right thing and add it to yours.

‘Scars on the Horizon’ is released on Wildest Card Records

Reviewed by Nick Kemp