experienced some of their greatest success with 2021's Top Five U.K. hit . It's easy to understand why and 's cathartic rants resonated so strongly, considering their audience was struggling with a global pandemic on top of Brexit and the ongoing political and cultural turmoil of the 2020s. If lockdowns helped focus the duo's ire on , then finds the pair responding to an increasingly complicated post-pandemic world. Fortunately, they're up to the task. are still honed in on their usual targets. The thrumming title track plays like the musical equivalent of Spitting Image, namedrops everyone from Putin to Bruce Banner, and even ties the duo's chart success to the increasingly dysfunctional state of the nation. Desperation fuels portraits of austerity ranging from the hollowed-out ballad "Apart from You" to "Tilldipper," a churning sketch that chronicles small acts of rebellion like stealing on the job. However, also expand their horizons on . 's fragmented outbursts are particularly sharp, whether he skewers the "post-punk dross" on "D.I.Why" with the highly specific burn "You do playlists for Fred Perry," taps into bleak nostalgia for his childhood on "I, Claudius," describing "loving your country" as a "silent enemy that hangs like nets," or unleashes a torrent of thoughts about vanity and addiction on "Pit 2 Pit," which makes the "straight to your door" convenience of online thrift shopping sound like a threat. These prolific monologues might make it hard for some producers to get a sound in edgewise, but 's work is especially ear-catching on . Hints of U.K. drill heighten the menace of pandemic-shortened fuses on "Smash Each Other Up"; the bouncy rhythm that drives "Right Wing Beast" stretches out into a queasy monotony; and the combination of a booming, '80s hip-hop beat and chiming guitars on "Rhythms of Class" is equally jarring and hypnotic. The album's collaborations provide two of its brightest highlights: "Force 10 from Navarone," which features 's , works as well as expected, with her icy non sequiturs ("It's my roadkill hat/Don't touch it") complementing 's heated delivery and pushing the dubstep-like wobble of 's production further into shadowy surrealism. "So Trendy," a meeting of the minds with , is an out-of-nowhere triumph. Its gleaming sci-fi satire finds harassed by passwords and facial recognition software while spins a parallel tale of jetpack men and social media influencers who flex for virtual clout over a melody that's catchier than it has any right to be. That "So Trendy" sounds like it was beamed in from a different planet from the rest of just offers more proof that ' range keeps growing along with their success. It's a slightly more disjointed experience than , but are making music for themselves first and fighting back against evil and stupidity the only way they can. ~ Heather Phares