Cosmic Kahuna’s debut effort Paintstripper is a visceral explosion of eclectic riffs and hard-hitting rock ‘n’ roll grooves. From the opening song, ‘Fault In The AE-35 Unit’ you know what you’re in for, 10 riff-fuelled tracks that perfectly embody the ferocity of a Cosmic Kahuna live show.
Barely dropping intensity for a second, the album flows through fast-paced punk-rock numbers that would be as equally suited for a dingy regional town pub gig as they would for a large-scale stadium rock show.
Tracks such as the album closer ‘Culture Casualty’ gives off a very welcomed old-school hardcore vibe through the use of vocal tone and riff whilst the high tempo riff of ‘Muzzle’ makes it almost impossible to not head-bang along with.
‘Gossamer’ provided intricate bass lines and slow grimy riffs bringing a sludge metal vibe to the table, which works well to create diversity within the album and add a nice change of tempo before kicking straight back into high-octane rock.
Paintstripper is a very solid debut release from the up and coming Melbourne punk-rockers, if you are a fan of hard, fast and heavy pub-rock riffs, this album is a must own.
4/5
Reviewed by Alex Callan
