Consumer Guide Album

Yard Act: Where's My Utopia? [Island, 2024]
Designated post-punk for want of a more specific slot, this all-male U.K. s-g-b-d hail from Leeds, which in crucial respects says plenty about who they are or appear to be. True, there's no punky thrash or funky thwong to their four-four. But both their collective IQ and their acerbic politics are worthy of not only the Mekons and the Gang of Four, as is their unbowed "How about one last crack at it before we quit the biz?" There's an added attraction as well, namely that most of their songs are situated where they belong--in the day-to-day dilemmas and disappointments they outline. "Welcome to the future/The paranoia suits you," they beckon. "Are we born for nothing if we die alone?" they want to know. "If I leave here before you you'll see our baby through," they aver, and let's both assume and hope that they mean it. A-