stream Arctic Flowers' new album 'Straight to the Hunter'

Portland, OR’s Arctic Flowers have been at it since the beginning of this decade, reviving ’80s post-punk with a strong emphasis on the “punk” side. Their last album was 2014’s very solid Weaver, and now they’re set to follow it with Straight to the Hunter this Friday (11/30). (They’re self-releasing it in North America, following a string of releases on Deranged Records). Guitarist Stan Wright said the reason for the long gap between albums was “partially just life, but also experimenting and not wanting to make the same record again,” and while Straight To The Hunter isn’t miles away from Weaver, it definitely isn’t the same record. It’s a lot cleaner sounding than its predecessor and it allows for the choruses and the bright, catchy guitar riffs to really pop. It’s good stuff — picture Wipers-style Portland punk mixed with Siouxsie and the Banshees hooks and sped-up Cure riffs — and you can check out a stream of the full album now. It premieres below. If you like what you hear, you can pre-order it.

Arctic Flowers are celebrating with a hometown release show on December 8 at the High Water Mark. That’s their only currently announced date.