Velociraptor – TheWorld Warriors

Velociraptor make a hell of a racket live. With 12 – count ‘em, 12 – members, you’d bloody hope so, too. Though not nearly as chaotic on record as on stage, The World Warriors nonetheless bursts out of the blocks with the Ronettes-via-13th Floor Elevators strut of ‘Cynthia’.

The energy holds up for the mini-album’s 22-minute duration, with tag-teaming drummers/frontmen Jeremy Neale and James Boyd gurning and crooning their way through every teen-romance cliché within reach, all with a knowing wink. Behind them roars all the sloppy, snotty energy you’d expect of a band featuring half of Brisbane’s garage scene. Luckily, there are plenty of tunes to tie all that energy together, cribbed from The Yardbirds, the Troggs, and every no-hit wonder in between.

If you haven’t already lived through a garage rock revival, then you’ll pogo like an idiot to The World Warriors. Fair enough, too: it may have been done before, but now it’s Velociraptor’s turn, and they do it pretty damn well.

7/10 stars