I wouldn’t be a music writer if I didn’t start this by mentioning that there are lots of post-punk bands in Melbourne. That said, Heir Traffic exist in their own lane locally - where many of this city’s acts tend to lean towards frenetic and angular sounds, Heir Traffic offer up a far darker and more brooding take, borrowing notes from goth-rock forebears and the heavyweights of European post-punk rather than local contemporaries. On No Hearth, the group’s long-time-coming debut album, the quintet present a stark and unwavering definitive statement that feels as alluring as it is corrosive.

Following on from a string of standalone singles released over the past three years, No Heart instantly feels more potent than the band’s previous cuts. Opening track ‘Figures’ unveils itself with an agitated pulse before swathes of grimy guitar and Hugh Mitchell’s elusive vocals permeate the soundscape, and following an explosive conclusion, ’FORTH!’ emerges with a self-assured swagger to highlight the band’s steely-eyed nerve as they double down on their tightly-wound sound.

As No Hearth expands open, what sticks out is Heir Traffic’s clear consideration for ‘atmosphere’ - they’ll rarely make a decision that might compromise the album’s uneasy and dirt-encrusted palette. At times it’s almost cinematic - as on the dramatic spaghetti-western tinged ‘Smoke Taint’ or the sprawling and expansive ‘Reverend, Reverend’ - and when they do decide to turn the tension up like on ‘Bogged’ it’s completely thrilling. The album’s most striking moment comes at closing track ‘A n B’, where Hugh’s deliberately evasive vocal style becomes entirely enigmatic, somehow evoking a scene that’s simultaneously disorientating and vivid while the band careen menacingly behind him; masterfully sending No Hearth off in a way that leaves us unsettled yet anxious for more.