Belgium speednoise band Ronker provide a blistering debut album. Out on Labelman January the 30th.
January the 30th 2026 has dropped so many good albums it should have had a special name. “Big Album Friday” or “Bloody Hell, I’m Drowning in Records Day.” Anything that could have reflected the endurance marathon that trying to review them all has been. This is another one that really ought to command your attention if you like it fast and loud. Ronker are Jasper De Petter on vocals/guitar, Bram Delcourt on bass, Jens Van Den Borre on guitar and Matteo Beyney on drums. I can understand why they been compared to Idles, and they will appeal to fans of Idles, but overall it is a simplistic comparison. De Petter has a style that at times matches Joe Talbot vocally, though is from a slightly more primal place, and musically Ronker are faster, stronger and angrier than Bristol’s finest current guitar band.
This band do awesome titles. Their debut album from 2024 was entitled Fear Is A Funny Thing, Now Smile Like A Big Boy. Respect the Hustle is a step up from that decent debut and had three superb singles released in the run up. ‘No Sweat’ is a quality foot-to-the floor rock out. Props to the video director as well, who makes four guys standing around in a gym look absolutely epic.
‘Limelighter’ is superbly executed, a borderline screamo vocal over taut, explosive guitar.
‘Snuff’ came from a very different place. A tail of substance abuse and the huge toll it can inflict, backed by a much sparser sound that concedes the ground to a gorgeous piano line. The band state, “Snuff is bleak and brutally honest. It details how loneliness wraps its arms around you and smothers you in nihilism. It was a very cathartic piece to record, we did it in three takes. The vocal recording is a single one-take lifted from the demo. This is the realest we have ever been.” Addiction is a theme returned to on ‘Disco Dust.’
Intriguing piano reappears straight away on ‘Where The Dogs Sleep,’ a great instrumental that is just short of two minutes. It suggests a band quite capable of sliding into scoring film or TV should they decide to go in that direction. ‘House of Hunger’ returns the foot to the accelerator and the album then mostly keeps it there through to the end.
‘Using Eyes’ is a thoughtful finish to the album. It distillates the key themes of coping mechanisms, greed and hard living that run throughout it.
This band deserve your attention and your respect. This is an album that requires live spaces to be filled with energy and mosh-pits, that could be furious and cathartic.
Essential Tracks: ‘No Sweat,’ ‘Snuff,’ ‘Where The Dogs Sleep,’ ‘House Of Hunger,’ ‘Disco Dust’ and ‘Limelighter.’
There are two UK dates in April, we are aiming to get to The Lexington.
- 24/04/2026 – Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate (UK)
- 25/04/2026 – The Lexington, London (UK)
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