This record will kill you like a Tijuana switchblade smuggled over the border by a man whose only goal in life is to satisfy his first-born's dream of giving some rat bastid the Colombian necktie. This record will wake in the middle of the night and burn furious holes in every record you own that doesn't feature Rick Froberg, John Reis, Mario Rubalcaba, or Gar Wood (though it might leave your Napalm Death and Black Flag alone if it bothers to warm up to you, which it might if you survive). This record will remind you why rock 'n' roll was first aligned with the devil and never much cared to shrug the association.

It's just that fucking good.

Coupling the terrifying bombast of Automatic Midnight with the artful brooding of Suicide Invoice, Audit in Progress is the apotheosis of Hot Snakes – a band whose time has come.

In a soundscape populated by tepid punkers, drop-d monsters, and the disaffected swagger of the riche NYC hipster, Hot Snakes raise a trouble fist for all of those who once believed in the urgent power of a guitar hero. From the outright juggernaut of "Braintrust" to the scathing number-one summer jam "Plenty for All", Audit in Progress reminds us all why we raised a glass at the passing of Joe Strummer, why the earth shook when Bruce first played Max's Kansas City and why a thousand kids in a thousand garages will pick up guitars tonight and play until their fingers bleed.

Because rock 'n' roll is a life worth living and as dark as the songs on this record may appear (the chorus of 'Hair and DNA" – "We got murdered, you and I" would hardly seem affirming on the surface), as caustic the chords and Rick's unconscionable howl, this record is imbued with a joyous lust not heard since the days of Minor Threat.

The only drawback, of course, to an album of this caliber is that once you throw it on your ghetto box you'll never want to take it off.

But that's a risk you should be willing to take.

www.hotsnakes.com