CLASS are back, and they're not exactly in a cheerful mood! "Scratching The Ceiling" finds the Tucson punk rockers tearing through ten tracks of nervous, hook-loaded rock'n'roll, recorded in just one week by Andy Puig and brothers Erik and Martin Meyer. Lineup changes and geographical reshuffling clearly haven't taken the edge off this bunch. Quite the opposite!

Jagged guitar riffs, frantic rhythms, sneering vocals and melodies that refuse to leave your head – CLASS have that wonderful knack for making punk rock sound both angry and ridiculously catchy. There's a healthy dose of late-70s punk and early powerpop running through these songs, but this isn't some nostalgic exercise in leather jackets and safety pins. Tracks like "Are You Feeling Okay?", "Coward Age", "Blister Point" and "Evacuation Zone" tackle the increasingly messed-up world around us with plenty of bite and absolutely no interest in playing nice.

Ten short, sharp blasts of frustration, attitude and damn fine songwriting, all wrapped up in the kind of raw guitar-driven sound that makes you want to turn the volume up rather than contemplate the state of the world. If you dig THE EXPLODING HEARTS, THE BRIEFS and the rougher side of punky powerpop, CLASS deserve a place on your turntable. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!