ALBUM REVIEW: RONKER – Respect The Hustle, I Won’t Be Your Dog Forever (Labelman)
RONKER are a four-piece from Belgium who describe themselves as a speednoise band, and that label pretty much sums up how they sound.
Imagine British post-punk heroes IDLES crossed with Swedish hardcore outfit Refused, and you won’t be far off.
Formed in 2020, they debuted with 2023’s Self Loathing Self Help EP, and released their first album Cover Of Fear Is A Funny Thing, Now Smile Like A Big Boy, the next year.
Now they’re back with a second full-length, which they say is a concept album about the consequences of living a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle and the coping mechanisms that emerge.
It’s 11 tracks encompass everything from visceral noise to agonising bleakness, taking in influences as wide as David Bowie and Megadeth, and it’s a must-listen for anyone who likes heavy music.
RONKER deal in aggression, huge riffs, pummelling drums and bass, and larynx-shredding vocals, and although their music is generally fast and furious, there’s plenty of hooks.
It bursts into life with opening track Tall Stories, and after title track Respect The Hustle… lead single No Sweat is a furious blend of post-punk, noise rock and hardcore.
There’s a change of pace with second single Snuff, a bleak and brutally honest dive into the realities of substance abuse. It has a one-take vocal lifted from the demo, and the band describe it as “the realest we have ever been”.
Where The Dogs Sleep sees vocalist Jasper really let rip, while Limelighter sounds like IDLES before lapsing into guttural vocals.
Things come to a close with Using Eyes, which is almost like listening to a different band with its gentle intro and sung rather than screamed vocals, and you keep expecting the song to explode. The fact it never really does make it all the more unsettling.
RONKER have a couple of UK headline shows on the horizon, in Ramsgate and London, in April. On this evidence they’ll be unmissable. 7.5/10.
