Writing off American quintet Medicine as shoegaze knockoffs does little justice to the voraciousness of their sound, ignoring their willingness to push noise and pop together in thrillingly unpredictable ways. On their debut album, Medicine are populist extremists: the coruscating line of noise that scribbles across the melodic palimpsest of “Aruca”, or the white-heat intensity of the drone that introduces “One More”, are face-flattening at the correct volume (note: loud). And getting pedal steel legend ‘Sneaky Pete’ Kleinow into the studio and then mixing his sea-sick twang at punishing volume is a mark of genius.

– Jon Dale