What you might know about Wet Paint (what a wonderfully ‘will this do?’ name for a band that is) is that they were formed out of the ashes of distinctly average alt. country band Absentee. That sort of introduction is hardly going to get anyone racing out to the record shops or online to check out what this new lot are like. However, new album Woe could actually be worth tracking down.

The alt. country has been ditched in favour of detuned guitars and the dusting off of old Sonic Youth and Pavement records, leading to a new lease of life for this East London four-piece. Written in the aftermath of some bad times, including a robbery at the flat of guitarist/singer Babak Ganjei, so you might expect some maudlin music, but the record bursts out of the traps with the exhilirating ‘Gone So Long’ – a former Song of the Day at The Line Of Best Fit – all doomy minor chord guitars and energetic vocals, and you can instantly see the band’s influences. It’s vintage Sonic Youth, and all the better for it. Quickly following is the motorik ‘Uptight Casuals’, which comes complete with awesome riffage, distorted bass and lyrics drenched in irony: “I’m bringing you down / and writing me off / I never knew how (you’d be the next sensation)”.

‘Distant Memory’ shows the band can slow things down as well, sounding like an effects pedal-abusing classic before exploding into an impassioned chorus, bemoaning their previous experiences at the hands of the music industry. ‘Aim Low’ begins with “If I was your friend, would you talk to me more? / chase you in corners, like dogs chasing doves…If I was your friend would you be a good host?” and is a sad and short dirge about keeping things in perspective. It’s a lovely and gentle interlude before ‘Dead Night’ screams out the speakers with an insistent bass and sparkling alt-rock guitars, and it’s a total thrill. Sure, it’s nothing new but Wet Paint know their way around a six-string and no mistake.

Having said that, ‘Shadow’s Secret Life’ stays too close to the alt blueprint to be all that interesting, and ‘Little Disappointments’ is distinctly average, but should be praised for these hilarious lines: “Strolling on a beach, with a t-shirt to the knees / Sonic Youth printed but the lady’s not impressed / because only indie geeks need the validation.” It’s a shame they don’t get the music they deserve.

‘A Bird’s Yawn’ belies the gentle nature of the album title by being a marvellously deranged headlong blast through all the indie pop tropes you can think of, and it hits the spot. As great as that is, ‘Lynchstrumental’ proves to be a disappointing end to the record, as it wanders around for five minutes occasionally stamping on a pedal to see what happens…not much, as it turns out.

Wet Paint fall into a similar category to newbies Yuck, in so much that they’re reviving genres that have been much neglected or haven’t moved on since the 1990s (the decade, not the band). The sound still hasn’t moved on, which causes a bit of a problem when it comes to being inventive or different. Still, Woe does have its thrilling moments and I can’t say no to some top-notch guitar abuse, so let’s call it a somewhat qualified success.