Strewn with heavy-metal flecks, Bilmuri’s 16th album KINDA HARD exudes a hardcore emo style that Johnny Franck, the former vocalist/guitarist of Attack Attack!, has embraced over the years. From the ferocious title track’s snarling, wordless introduction to the gentler arrival of finisher “WAVES”, its exterior of guitar riffs, howls and pop-punk bravado belies a softer, if sometimes bitter, emotional centre. “Yeah, you keep screaming at me, trying to tell me who to be/Baby, it’s obnoxious, can’t believe you used to be a part of me,” he growls over the frenzied “MORE THAN HATE”. As the singer-songwriter surges through a lyrical roller coaster of regret, introspection, nostalgia and acceptance, sonically he adds touches of country and even trilling saxophone to a raucous mix of unabashed angsty rock energy.