White Lung - Deep Fantasy

Ten songs, twenty-two minutes, not a wasted second. Deep Fantasy was White Lung's third album and their first for Domino, and in 2014 it made the Vancouver trio one of the most talked-about punk bands working. It is a record built on velocity, but the writing underneath is far more considered than the running time suggests.

Kenneth William's guitar work is the engine, a constant blur of tapped, treble-heavy runs that owe as much to metal as to hardcore, while Anne-Marie Vassiliou's drumming refuses to let anything settle. Over the top, Mish Way writes about bodies, addiction, and violence with a directness that gives "Drown With The Monster," "Face Down," and "I Believe You" their real weight. Producer Jesse Gander keeps the mix bright and hostile, and Heba Kadry's mastering leaves it sounding enormous.

A decade on it holds up as one of the defining punk records of the 2010s, the point where White Lung's chaos got focused without getting tame.

This LP is cut at 45 RPM via Domino, pressed at United Record Pressing with lacquers from Salt Mastering. Short, fast, and loud in the way it was engineered to be.