Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby

GIRLS AGAINST BOYS: "Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby" (Touch & Go)

Forget about the utterly appalling and totally misleading name, Girls Against Boys - a New York via Washington outfit - are a dark, male, electric surge of rhythm, melody and angst. This is fucked-up and fucked-over music that rides on a heavy animal grunting twin bass and a voice desperately seeking refuge.

It's not what the words say - because they say fuck all - it's the mood that they are part of. It's not that they're stupid - they're just a bit too arty, hiding what they need to say behind a camouflage of affected depth. Or maybe they don't know what they want to say. But that doesn't matter because these words are only riding; it's the music and voice that's driving.

I road test this music. I turn it up loud. Louder. That's good. Everything about this album is hard. But it's rock 'n' roll. It's primal. It's got rhythm. Grinding, ferocious rhythm. Hypnotic loops. All the traditional stuff, with a slice of feedback and a twist of distortion. And the voice is hoarse, to a scream.

There's an industrial dance sort of angle in here, but the sound is much more drummingly live. Yes, there's some sampling. There's a hardcore element. There's a punk element. I hear hints of The Velvets, particularly on the music for 'Bughouse', which is slow, moody and beautifully looped. But the more I listen to Venus Luxure… the better it gets, the harder it rocks. Right now I'd place it No. 5 behind Neil Young's Unplugged, Mercury Rev's Boces, Ice T's Home Invasion and Lungfish's Rainbows From Atoms, in my albums of the year list, so far.

All they need now is to change their name . . .

• Gerry McGovern