I've alluded to this before, but I've been missing some good, honest rock music. It just doesn't seem to be finding its way onto my radar these days. I'm fairly old school in my tastes. I like loud guitars, thumping drums, dirty bass lines, and lyrics you can actually understand. Plenty of people enjoy screamo, but apart from a few brief dalliances, it's never really been my thing.

Muddshovel, a three-piece band from Ireland, were introduced to me by their record label and, seconds into the opening track, "Over the Line", it felt like I'd struck rock gold. You're greeted with an immediate assault on the senses. The guitars are heavy, loud, and dirty, while the drums arrive moments later to reinforce the wall of sound. When the vocals came in, I was a little apprehensive, but I needn't have been. They're raw and powerful, yet there's something instantly accessible about them that makes them easy to engage with.

"Third Time Lucky" drops down a gear or two. It has a distinctive vibe, with a vocal chant that gives the song its own character. There's a nice sense of pace to it, and it reveals another side of the band's songwriting.

Continuing in a similar vein, "Deep Fried Soul" is driven initially by the force of the drums before being joined by the bass. There's also an intriguingly dirty guitar tone running through the track. It's difficult to tell whether it's an intentional effect or simply the natural texture of the performance. Unless I'm mistaken, there's also a hint of strings in the background, adding another layer to the arrangement.

Perhaps I was beginning to worry about the direction the album was taking, but I needn't have. "Pity Party" brings a welcome return to the denser rock sound of the opener. There's an underlying anger here that fits the title perfectly and comes through in the raw edged vocal delivery. The track also introduces some keyboard and synth textures which, on paper, perhaps shouldn't work, but in practice they fit surprisingly well.

"Heading Home" once again sees the drums driving everything forward. This track feels deeply rooted in the classic rock traditions of the 1970s, bringing to mind bands such as Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. While there is a softer edge to the song, those influences are unmistakable, particularly in the guitar work that emerges around three quarters of the way through. It could easily have slipped into weak pastiche, but instead it manages to establish an identity all its own.

I couldn't help thinking of Douglas Adams while listening to "Don't Drink the Water". It may be a tenuous connection, but in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" there's the line, "What's so bad about being drunk?" followed by the response, "Go ask a glass of water." As I said, it's a tenuous link, but I love how music can spark these random memories. The track itself continues to draw from those early rock influences. In my head, I can almost hear much harsher, more raucous vocals, which would have been the obvious choice. Instead, the band opts for something softer, and that's not a bad thing at all. It demonstrates a group that's entirely comfortable following its own instincts.

That brings us to the title track, "Little White Hair". I've said before that I feel the title track should always be the strongest song on an album, and for me that's not quite the case here. It's another slow burning piece, which doesn't make it a bad song by any means, but given the impact of the opener, I found myself expecting something more explosive. That's probably just the way my brain works. What I will say is that the track has all the ingredients of a great live performance, particularly when it descends into its darker musical passages.

At first, I thought "Cupid Sorrow" was heading somewhere completely different thanks to its unusual opening. Before long, however, it settles back into something much more rock-oriented, and for me this is where the band truly excels. I enjoy the slower material, but I still want those occasional moments where the volume gets cranked up to eleven. Like the title track, this feels like a song that would really come alive on stage, particularly during the instrumental section hinted at around the four-minute mark.

The album closes with "No Further", and my inner rock demon leaves somewhat satisfied. I love the guitar work here. It's loud, soaring, and full of energy, while the vocals complement it perfectly. Perhaps that's a little too stiff upper lip a way of putting it, so let's keep it simple: it rocks.

I have to admit that when I heard the opening track, my expectations immediately soared. To a large degree, Muddshovel delivered on that promise, although the album perhaps doesn't maintain quite the same level of intensity throughout. Then again, after such a long drought of genuinely exciting rock music, maybe my expectations were always going to be difficult to satisfy completely.

At the end of the day, there's so much to like here. Perhaps I simply haven't cast my net wide enough recently, but I'm glad to have discovered Muddshovel's, "Little White Hair".