Tyevk used to be called Tyvek.  Any journalist researching this band may have a frustrating time ahead of them deciding which to call them. Tyvek is obviously a brand name that belongs to DuPont, and rather than take on a $38 billion company in a lawsuit they changed it to Tyevk, considering TVK and Tijvek first. This is a lot less ‘punk’ than their music would suggest, but the intent is still there and for that Tyvek… or er, Tyevk should be saluted!

You see, nobody told Tyvek (let’s go with that one) that punk is more or less dead save for the odd band or two, the final nail in the coffin being when Green Day decided to… exist. By not realising this fact they’ve made one of the best punk albums for years. It’s ferocious, impassioned, brisk and sometimes inventive. Records in a similar vein tend to grow stale by the fourth or fifth track, but Tyvek manage to keep everything fresh by branching out. Too often punk bands play punk music and nothing else. A tedious string of power chords and shouting. Tyvek start off within this mould, albeit in blistering fashion with “4312″ and “Animal” but soon branch out into an odd psychedelic swirling sound with “Potato” that they return to in “Outer Limits,” one of only two tracks to exceed three minutes.

Brevity is the key here, and at barely over twenty six minutes this is a blisteringly paced record, barely stopping for breath as it hops between songwriting and texture creation like a hummingbird with ADHD. It is a truly devastating sound that they manage to muster, all fuzz and hiss, and it’s violently effective. The record is brash and noisy and over just as you settle into it, but that’s merely another excuse to play it again.

Conclusion: They’re good, whatever they’re called…