SORRY

Sorry isn't so much the follow-up to White Lung's 2010 full-length debut, It's the Evil, as it is a continuation; like the getaway car driver outside of a bank robbery, the Vancouver-based neo-punkers immediately kick into high gear and go screeching into the night. Armed with improved production values and somehow even more energy, the band shouts and shreds through its ten tracks in under 20 minutes with a visceral intensity that borders on collapse. Mish Way's commanding vocals and guitarist Kenneth McCorkell's knotty guitar work, melding into a riot grrrl/post-punk hybrid, lead the charge, while the measured, solid foundation of bassist Grady Mackintosh and drummer Anne-Marie Vassilou ensures things don't just go off the rails. "Take the Mirror," with McCorkell's precise, speed metal-like riffing and Way's threatening snarl, plays like a kick to the teeth, while the like-minded "Thick Lip" offers respite from the pummeling sonics in Way's surprisingly hypnotic delivery. Breakneck pace and aggressive urgency notwithstanding, Sorry shows White Lung embracing more melody than they did with It's the Evil (just keep, say, Dag Nasty's definition of the term in mind as opposed to Katy Perry's), evident in elements like the layered interplay of "Glue" and the propulsive, skatepunk-like attitude of "Bad Way." Already at the head of the punk revival in the Great White North, White Lung make their case as one of the best bands of their kind anywhere with Sorry, picking up where they left off two years ago almost seamlessly while innovating just enough to ready them for a larger stage. ~ Chrysta Cherrie