Salmon still has formidable scuzz-rock chops and sinister charisma to spare. He sounds like an unholy cross between Lux Interior and Nick Cave on "You'll Pay for This," a heavy, reverb-drenched dose of vengeance powered by screeching sludge guitar, fuzz bass, and a thudding beat. The caustic acid-rock blues of "Non Stop Action Groove" is buoyed by overheated distortion that has the texture of liquefied metal. Even the ballad "Rose Coloured Windscreen," with its queasy violin bowing, channels evil energy through lyrics like "Hell is where my heart lives and heaven's just a state of my mind." For all its ominous overtones, Sin Factory is a rock-and-roll amusement park full of carnival rides for the damned.

-- Matt Ashare

(Kim Salmon and the Surrealists headline the Middle East this Sunday, May 26, with the Cheater Slicks and the Water Margin.)