Manchester post-punk band Ist Ist and their increasing fan base know the score by now – they didn't get to where they are today without having listened to everything they could get their hands on by Joy Division. Such a reference, not by any means one the band hasn't heard before, isn't meant be pejorative (depending on your viewpoint, the band either casually tip the hat or make a sign of the cross at the mention of Ian Curtis's name) because running through their music is a strain of solid-gold integrity and commitment.

The band’s 2020 debut album, Architecture, paid obvious homage to the built-up skyline of their home city as well as exploring the less evident scourge of mental health issues running amok through a community. Their new album dips into similar territory, still hugely influenced by psychogeography, but forging a fusion of monochromatic post-rock and electronic music that has been gripped by writing music in various stages of lockdown.

One can only hope that, with songs such as Extreme Greed (which triumphantly transfers their indie ambitions from club venues to stadiums) and their association with Irish visual artist Nigel Cox (some of whose figurative work is strongly inspired by Ist Ist's more minimalistic music), this most underground and urgent of rock bands reaches their potential before time (or Covid) strips it away from them.