CD CHOICE:Wild Flag Wichita****

The problem with music nostalgia is that it tends to send out a message that we've seen and heard it all before. The best is not to come because the best happened, according to the classic rock tenets, 20 or 30 years ago. And it's not just The Beatles who dominate this terrain: witness the acres of coverage given to the 20th-anniversary of the release of Nirvana's Nevermind, or the mourning that greeted news of REM's demise. It's a case of been there, seen that and now own the deluxe reissued album with extra DVD.

In some ways, a band such as Wild Flag are ripe for a rub with the nostalgia stick. Composed of women who made their mark as members of such seminal indie rock outfits as Sleater-Kiney, The Minders and Helium, the band seem perfectly in tune with this longing for music that has gone before. But Wild Flag won’t be relying on nostalgia for their individual past glories to get attention. Why would they, when this glorious, magnificent, boisterous debut album rocks in every sense of the word?

That’s really the key. In many ways, Wild Flag could have rested on those laurels, gathered all the nice press clippings and enjoyed some more time in the sun. Instead of doing the obvious, though, the four Flag bearers have come together to throw down one fierce, frenzied rattle after another.

From Romance, the riotous rebel yell that opens the album, to the full-throttle hardcore slap of Future Crimes(like Fugazi, only weirdly better), Wild Flag don't really pause all too often to take a breath or do some mid-life introspection. That class of behaviour is not on this agenda.

Throughout you’ll find yourself thrilled skinny about many things. The mad, thumping melodies. The hard-ass guitar riffs. The superb dynamic screams and shrieks. The tunes that keep coming back for more. Forget what these individuals have done before and concentrate instead on the sweet visceral beauty of what they’re doing right here, right now. See facebook.com/wildflag

Download tracks: Romance, Glass Tambourine, Future Crimes, Short Version