Suneaters - Suneaters IV: Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fingers (Lotuspool)

Following 2021’s red herring electronic/ambient sixth LP XI: It’s the Future, Kansas City, MO’s Suneaters return to their familiar hard-rocking ways on this seventh (again, their out-of-sequence Roman numeral titles reflect plans to release 13 albums in alternating ascending/descending order). IV is less rooted in the psych, post-rock, and prog of 2019’s III: Unfathomable Darkness, with more succinct, economical songwriting, Chris Lost (née Garibaldi)’s and Mike Judd’s tense, punk-fueled guitars, and the robust vocals of Lost, Scott Hartley, and new drummer Nick Carroll. (Lost and Hartley were previously in Dr. Doctor with Michael McMillian of TV’s True Blood.)

They still display a host of ‘70s influences — see the languorous, T. Rex/“Bang a Gong (Get it On)”-tinted glam-rock clomp of “Man Without a Country,” the cowbell-infused, Grand Funk Railroad/Blue Öyster Cult-isms of “Wen Your Gon,” the War/“Low Rider” groove of “When Life Gives You Piss…Make Lemonade,” or the Doobie/Allman Brothers vibe on the James Grauerholz-penned “Appointment With the Hangman” — but much of IV blasts like turbocharged modern outfits Moving Targets, China Drum, Poster Children, and, on the closing “Devil Dog,” Sloan. (lotuspool.com)