Track listing: Faded Sun, If I Ever See You Again, Before I Sleep, Eleanor, Another Fall From Grace, Love Will Find A Way, Freefall, Trip, Black Dove, Numb

Dark Street Records' latest release is the full-length LP Divided Sins by Racing Mars, a 5-piece Alt/Rock outfit based in Bristol, England. The group's third record gives listeners an emotive and moody effort, awash with guitar leads that slash through dirty post-grunge-era chord progressions. I hear Cult / Billy Duffy inspiration across the guitar tone album-wide. And singer Tim Wallace's voice brings to mind a bit of the plaintive whine of Drivin N Cryin's Kevn Kinney. 

For the most part, Divided Sins is a 4-on-the-floor, pedal-to-the-metal sort of record. All up-tempo, all aggressively written. "If I Ever See You Again" is the standout single on the album, with its earworm guitar hook jumping out from the get-go and a melodic chorus that will be stuck in your head for days. The record closes with the biggest stylistic change-up, in "Numb"--a more funky vibe with a relentlessly pounding chorus.

Racing Mars isn't pretty boy alt/rock. There's a lot of grit, grease, and grime in their sound. A shot of straight liquor first thing in the morning; a long hard pull on a cigarette on a hot humid summer day. The shine is saved for the performances themselves--Divided Sins is a beautifully produced album filled with rich tone, full-bodied rock attitude, and thunderous bass & drums laying down the foundation of it all.

Divided Sins is now available on all major streaming platforms as well as on the band's Bandcamp profile, where you can also take in the previously released Bullets from the Graveyard (2018) and Measure of Decay (2017), along with their 2021 live album, Thunderbolt, Live. There is a consistency across the band's work such that with their entire discography in-hand, hitting 'shuffle' will give you a few hours of solid, non-stop alt/rock intensity.