Drug Church aim for the rafters on “Detective Lieutenant”

Drug Church have made a fascinating transition in the past decade from making blistering hardcore into a more anthemic form of hypercharged rock that sounds fit for the arena, even when it carries the intensity and heaviness of a less pop-friendly underground. Their arc isn’t unlike that of Turnstile or The Armed, in ethic if not in aesthetic, and the proof of that growth can be heard in “Detective Lieutenant” one of two outsized anthems they’ve released in advance of their fourth album, Hygiene. “Detective Lieutenant” is the slower burning of the two, if slightly, shimmering with gloomy goth-rock guitars and vocalist Patrick Kindlon’s darkly intricate wordplay. When he sneers, “Your turn is coming, just give it time,” there’s a simmering menace that could be mistaken for encouragement. But when Kindlon erupts into a roar of “I won’t toss away what I love,” backed by a gigantic rush of guitars and the biggest production sound of any Drug Church song thus far, the sentiment is unmistakable.

From Hygiene, out March 11 via Pure Noise