The evergreen punks are back again with their 17th album, incredibly it’s more than 35 years since their debut offering.

A ten-track eclectic mix of melodies, strong bass riffs and keyboard runs, this CD shows a new side to the Stranglers. Another Camden Afternoon kicks off the album, an instrumental, with funky guitars and a catchy harmony.

Adios (Tango) is a foray into Latin music with has strong guitar and keyboards riffs, and sung in Spanish, just to show another diverse side of the band’s talent. Time Was Once On My Side, Giants and Lowlands all have that familiar Stranglers punk sound of the early eighties. The last track, 15 Steps, tells us that Eddie Cochran got it wrong on how many steps it took to get to heaven.

Despite a collective age of 242, the quartet has produced a superb album which will have old and new fans drooling. This is the first album in more than six years, and on this form let’s hope it’s not their last hurrah.