The Altered Hours: visceral bite

The Altered Hours do one thing and they do it very, very well. From Cork, the five-piece are psych-rock proponents who produce one driving, pulsating, hypnotic groove after another. You can understand within seconds why fellow travellers like Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe think so highly of them: this is music with real menace and intensity.

It's also a sound which works best in certain environments. The tension in tracks like Sweet Jelly Roll is probably best suited for a dark room with a strobe going full pelt in the corner rather than an open-air set at dusk. You get the feeling that the band's raw power doesn't quite come with the same punchy vim as it might on other occasions.

That’s not to say, though, that the band struggle or fall short. There’s a visceral bite to the material which makes you want to hear more and move closer. One to see again with a roof for them to raise.