US release of Escape ... is March 22 by Reincarnate Music.
PS Welcome back 'Stuffies, kings of late-20th Century punk-folk.

If one didn't know better, the first few crackling notes of The Wonder Stuff could be any jangle-rock, Bon Jovi wannabe. You can, for exactly the first 16 seconds, imagine John Cougar Mellencamp dance-bouncing, white shirt-cuffs poking out and a plain acoustic guitar strapped over his shoulder.

Then the vocals kick in, stripping the veneer of respectability and reminding anyone who they are listening to. The Wonder Stuff are somewhat legendary in their native land; a place that brought them fame and fortune; glory and fool's gold.

So it's natural that the British group label their album after their esteemed homeland - Escape From Rubbish Island.

Um. What?

Turns out Miles Hunt and crew - well Hunt to be sure - are a little fucked off at England's Labour Party. And this isn't just any teenage angst, general British anarchist rail against authority group that has had only one moderate US hit back in 1991 — "The Size of a Cow"

Nope. Long-haired scruffy prattle no longer exists.

These guys play angry. But it's no mere disengorgement of rage. It is controlled, intense anger. Very intense. Very controlled. They are being restrained while surgically reaching in to grab your heart and squeeze. Apparently, the American release (the one in my ears) has "rocked up" versions of the UK release (re-recordings of "Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight," "Escape From Rubbish Island," 'Bile Chant," "You Don't Know Who...," "Back To Work" and "Another Comic Tragedy."

Hints as to why these feelings expressed here hover over the band like a dark cloud boom out during each of the coming 39 minutes.

Even before one note is thrust upward, titles such as "Better Get Ready for a Fist Fight" and "Bile Chant" (the first single out Feb. 21 in the UK) make it clear not much of this comeback-after-12-year-hiatus disc will end up on a Shakespeare With Love 2 soundtrack.

Still it's a soundtrack to something without sidetracks. "Head Count" ends with some version of tribal drums. It's a steady hand beat that rises throughout the song. It starts with atmospheric guitar strums and an Avenger's-like punctuating chord-chime on the synth.

He serves a man I would call handsome
A friend you gave us for all time
I thank you for another passage
be sure to stand alongside mine
it's a head count ...

These guys have seen it all yet they continue to play. They would pack it in except they've still got something to get off their reedy chests.

The muddy production is needed here because anything too crisp, any string of notes too perfect won't work here. But out of that thin mud great phrases pop up out of almost each song. Things you wish you'd thought of.