The UK's answer to Dag Nasty?
I have to confess, I've entirely missed listening to Leatherface over the years, so this is the first album I've listened to start to finish. My first thought was "This reminds me of a British Dag Nasty, and I like it".
The opening riff off I Want the Moon could have come from almost any band out of California in the mid-80s, but just like Dag Nasty mellowed some of the rough edges of 80's DC hardcore, the chorus comes in with a ton of melody that wouldn't be out of place on a lot of mid-90s albums, or even something like a New Model Army track.
In North America, bands like Bad Religion (and obviously Dag Nasty) had already paved the way for a more melodic punk rock, but I don't tend to think of that type of thing coming out of the UK at the time. This album feels like something a little new and different.
Overall though, it's the vocals that really do it for me. Even on the melodic pieces, they hold that gruff aggression. This keeps the tracks from falling into the overly poppy or whiney trap a lot of 90s bands drowned in (or jumped head first into). A lot of these tracks remind me of another UK band that seems perpetually on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite place it. Solid album start to finish though.
Bands like Green Day and the Offspring hadn't really hit it big yet in 1991, but a few contemporary releases include Green Day's Kerplunk, Pennywise's self-titled debut, and NOFX's Ribbed. I would much rather be listening to Leatherface than any of that.
Favourite track so far - In the Real World.
On the punk side of things, with kicking off the first Album Club, the top pick goes to Mush by Leatherface.
Outside of the genre though, colder weather often brings a lot more black metal/blackgaze into my rotation, so I've been revisiting Diorama by MØL. And of course it wouldn't be October with the Ghastly Ones making a fairly regular appearance.