New Music Friday | Heavy Lungs – Caviar
- Apr 18
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Release Date: April 18, 2025
Label: Alcopop! Records
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Heavy Lungs’ long-awaited debut full-length, Caviar, is a raw, aggressive, and chaotic testament to the band’s punk ethos — a feral, unfiltered snapshot of modern disillusionment. Clocking in at just under 40 minutes, this Bristol-based quartet’s record is a calculated riot: messy in all the right ways, urgent in its delivery, and saturated with a kind of manic energy that rarely gets captured in studio recordings.
The band wastes no time kicking down the door with opener “Yes Chef,” a track that barrels forward with an unrelenting tempo and frantic guitar stabs. Frontman Danny Nedelko (yes, that Danny Nedelko) spits out verses like a man possessed, embodying the relentless pace of life in a world that doesn’t pause for breath. The phrase “yes, chef” might evoke images of kitchens and culinary pressure, but here it feels like a metaphor for the crushing expectations of modern capitalism — all barked orders and barely-contained chaos. It’s a hell of a way to start an album.
The title track “Caviar” sees the band experimenting with contrast — pairing dirty, sludgy guitar tones with punchy, high-register vocals that flirt with both anger and absurdity. There's a sneering irony at play, as the band uses the imagery of luxury delicacies to mock the facade of societal excess. It’s this kind of subversive sarcasm that gives Caviar its bite — Heavy Lungs aren’t just making noise; they’re weaponizing it.
Mid-album standout “All Gas No Brakes” lives up to its name. It's a brutal, two-minute sprint of snarling riffs and percussion that feels like being thrown into the back of a car going 120 mph with no seatbelt. This is where drummer George Garratt really shines, locking in with bassist James Minchall to create a thunderous low end that never lets up. Guitarist Oliver Southgate, meanwhile, leans into the chaos with skittering riffs that spiral into near-dissonance, giving the song a jagged, unpredictable feel.
But Caviar isn’t all speed and noise. Tracks like “Into the Fire” slow the pace and explore a darker, more industrial tone. The band leans into post-punk textures here, with Nedelko’s baritone vocals drenched in reverb, sounding more like a prophet shouting from the mouth of a cave than a punk frontman. It’s atmospheric and brooding — an essential gear shift that prevents the album from becoming one-note.
“Mr. Famous” injects a welcome dose of sardonic humor into the record. With a more upbeat, almost bouncy groove, it satirizes celebrity culture and the hunger for validation in an age where identity is curated for likes and clicks. There’s a sense of mockery in Nedelko’s vocal delivery — he sounds like he’s having a little too much fun playing the role of a self-obsessed icon, and that’s exactly the point. The track is deceptively catchy, and its levity breaks up the album’s more abrasive tendencies without ever feeling out of place.
While Caviar thrives on its raw intensity, that same intensity is occasionally a double-edged sword. The mix is purposefully dense — often smothering vocals beneath walls of guitars and distortion — which can obscure some of the more interesting lyrical content. For listeners unfamiliar with the band’s live show, this might feel overwhelming or disorienting. But for those who’ve witnessed Heavy Lungs in person, it’s clear that Caviar is built for the stage. The chaos, the sweat, the noise — it all makes sense in a dimly lit venue, surrounded by bodies moving in time with the band’s anarchic pulse.
There’s also a certain timelessness to this kind of punk energy. Heavy Lungs aren't trying to reinvent the genre, but they are stretching its emotional bandwidth — injecting post-hardcore, grunge, and noise influences into their sound in a way that feels both familiar and ferociously new. The record’s production isn’t polished, and that’s exactly the point. This is music meant to rattle, to jolt, to bleed through your speakers.
In the end, Caviar isn’t a polished, digestible product — it’s a shot of adrenaline straight to the chest. Heavy Lungs have delivered a debut album that feels like a tightly-coiled scream in a world full of empty chatter. It’s not an easy listen, nor is it trying to be. But for those seeking something unflinching, unfiltered, and unapologetically loud, Caviar hits the spot.
Tracklist:
Yes Chef
Caviar
Head Tilter
Dancing Man
All Gas No Brakes
Do I Think About You?
Into The Fire
Mr. Famous
Phil Spector
Slow Round Here
The Professional
Surging
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