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Heavy rockers join the Fontaines ferry with their gloomy post-punk dress-up Midas.

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For Wunderhorse – fronted by one Jacob Slater – they love it when things fall apart. On new outing Midas, it has never been more accurate. Gloriously down in the mouth with its moody temperaments and stoic outbursts, Midas is the bands’ sophomore to their first Cub in 2022 (which we reviewed back when it came out). A perfect side-by-side comparison, Midas compensates well for Cub‘s lack of, as it pushes a more fleshed-out Wunderhorse. While Cub was a lot of Jacob’s old work – sensitive and finitely missing the mark – Midas is the real uncovering of his talents. Almost like a Eureka moment, all of a sudden – Wunderhorse are everywhere.

Midas brings the best of both worlds: harnessing a Seattle grunge drool of Nirvana and Dublin’s current protagonists of Fontaines D.C.burning in the mix, it is worthy of a place on any honours list this year. Led by the chaotic self-titled, it’s a ten-track of a greatly proportioned alternative record. Every faculty member of rock will certainly be happy: July brings the swampy rock, Silver is the predestined ballad and Arizona is definitely for the Fontaines fans. The record ends with Aeroplane – a track lasting eight minutes, it may be a surprise if you’re not familiar with Cub – a doting acoustic finale that is a perfect round-up of Wunderhorse’s colossal year.

With the outfit seemingly gaining a greater audience overnight, with them supporting both Fontaines D.C. in Europe and a Sam Fender arena tour later in the year, everything’s coming up trumps for these lot.

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