A creeping unpleasantness elevated by confidence... the clanging wallop of the Birthday Party, and the tongue-in-cheek swagger of Lubricated Goat.

Party's over. Madison, Wisconsin's Sinking Suns have returned with Dark Days, their second album for Reptilian and third overall.

The album title is an absolute indicator of what's to be found within: a creeping unpleasantness elevated by confidence and strut.

This is not the spastic, bookish end of the noise rock spectrum, nor an over-distorted wallow in 90's kitsch, but an album of broad strokes and mature songwriting that cuts across genres - post-punk, post-hardcore, gritty rock, the clanging banging wallop of the Birthday Party and the tongue in cheek swagger of Lubricated Goat.

It's a nod to something more enduring. There's a controlled swing to these nine songs. There's breathing space in the maelstrom.

The drums aren't driving the songs off cliffs but cattle-prodding them forward. The bass isn't saturating every song with discolored thud but pushes a groove.

Dark Days is not a sprint through fire, it's a long march to bloody victory chaperoned by Dennis Ponozzo's irreverent vocal snarl over haunting chord progressions and exquisite guitar figures.

Sinking Suns really nailed it with this one. Their finest yet. This is the sound of men who've received the news of social collapse and are steeling themselves to tell the rest of us about the dark days ahead.