After a mere eight-year gap, the curmudgeonly Mancunians have returned. Get Ready (Gallo) finds them sounding as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as they ever have, focusing on what they do best, with the amps whacked up to 13.
The opener, Crystal, spells it out — grinding guitar chords, a smooth funkoid drum pattern and a final upper-register flourish from Peter Hook’s medallion-man bass guitar. 60 Miles an Hour has a low-rider raunchiness that evokes twin carburettors and belching tail pipes, and Slow Jam growls like a bulldozer in mud.
Anybody yearning for the moodier, more abstract New Order is not well catered for, though Someone Like You offers some watercolour electronica among the slashing rhythm guitars and girly backup vocals. Overall, it’s big, loud and commercial — and it works.