Falls – One Hundred Percent Strong

We all have bands, and no doubt many, which almost with their first creative breath spark an instinctive and lustful affair between their sound and ears. For us UK noise poppers Falls is one such union, a riotous quartet which spins webs of invention so contagious that they make the common cold seem lazy. Back in 2014, the band had us hooked with their self-tagged gash pop/fuck rock via the Dirtbox EP. Now they have unleashed its successor, One Hundred Percent Strong; a bigger, bolder, and even more devilish affair to rapture over.

Formed in 2013, Falls has been a hungry and irresistible live presence from day one, tours and shows with the likes of Allusondrugs, Shikari Sound System, God Damn, Blacklisters, Press To MECO, and Black Peaks among their own headlining conquests. The Dirtbox EP equally sparked attention upon its release, eclipsed the next year by the band’s two track single Mastiff which saw a host of radio play and support from the likes of Huw Stephens, Zane Lowe, Steve Lamacq, Alex Baker, and Sophie K. Ahead of a co-headlining tour with I Cried Wolf and an appearance at ArcTanGent in August, Falls is now uncaging One Hundred Percent Strong, a four-track stomp sure to outshine its predecessors in acclaim to match the leap in sound and invention.

There is a more mature and accomplished feel to the songs with the band’s latest offering, but without defusing the loco imagination and quick fire twist and turns which have already marked out their sound and imagination. In fact those elements have been honed with an even keener creative devilment to keep ears and the imagination as busy as the song’s instinctive rock ‘n’ roll does the body. With everything combined, Falls’ music is like a mix up in a noise infested pop factory blending early XTC with Hawk Eyes as seepage from Melvins adds a thrilling contamination.

It all starts with the kinetic shuffle of Get Well Soon; a track instantly accosting ears with throbbing bass grooves and rolling beats as the guitars of Martin Gallagher and Philip Kelsall perpetually cast wiry hooks and teasing riffs. That alone is enough to infest the psyche and lift the spirit, but add the rousing vocals of the band, with one of the three string pickers leading though no idea which, and you have instant emotional arousal. The track continues to swing and thump, even as its pop fuelled chorus dances provocatively on the imagination. It is simply glorious; we all find manna for the ears in certain songs and this is ours.

Though it is quickly matched by the even more tenacious and slight psychotic Shady Nasty. Again grooves and hooks are swift bait around the lively inviting beats of Steff Jones with the band’s vocals further harmonic and mischief making fun. There is also a volatility to the encounter, at times it almost intimidating ears with the resonating snarl of Ben Griffiths’ bassline a prominent enticement though it is just as compelling in the warmly flirtatious moments too.

SWARM comes next and lives up to its name as riffs crawl incessantly through ears, though there is no particular urgency to their incitement. Instead the song writhes around with steely grooves and off-kilter exploits within a web of punk hooks and noise rock sensibility. Ultimately, it is as funky as it is ferocious, as poppy as it is cantankerously inventive and pure alchemy for the senses and at this point our very greedy appetite for the release.

There is no relaxing of the twisted tempting and addictive ingenuity with closing track Death In Disco Shoes either, the track leaping around like a hyperactive sugar fuelled teenager not knowing whether to party hard or be creatively responsible and doing both with unbridled zeal.

It is an exhilarating end to one of the year’s major propositions so far and no doubt will remain so. Falls and One Hundred Percent Strong are noisy, raucous, and prone to addictive habits; the very best kind of rock ‘n’ roll.

The One Hundred Percent Strong EP is out now via Venn Records digitally and on 7” vinyl @ https://www.vennrecords.com/shop/music/fallsvinyl/

https://www.facebook.com/fallsband   http://www.fallsband.co.uk

Pete RingMaster 13/05/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com

Aiming For Enrike – Segway Nation

There seems to have been a bit of a buzz brewing up around Norwegian duo Aiming For Enrike and now with the release of new album Segway Nation, it is very easy to see why. The twelve strong imagination and body inciting instrumentals are a captivating and fascinating adventure in sound and aural suggestiveness revealing two musicians in total creative sync whilst embracing the infectious essences of everything from funk and jazz, post punk to rock ‘n’ roll with plenty more included.

Aiming For Enrike consists of drummer Tobias Ørnes and guitarist Simen Følstad Nilsen, a pair creating refreshing and virulent sounds through intricate polyrhythms within compelling grooves and melodies from a drum kit, three guitar amps, and a rich selection of loop and effect pedals. Inspirations seem to come from the likes of Hella, Lightning Bolt, and Monolithic but across time and debut album Mao Miro, now backed by Segway Nation, Aiming For Enrike has undoubtedly developed something distinct to their own adventure and imagination.

The album opens with the band’s latest single Newspeak, a track which has feet tapping within seconds and hips swinging after a few more inviting moments of its sonically informative body. The track is a keen shuffle of flirtatious rhythms and intrigue lit melodies amidst darker grumbling hues. They all build into a resourceful and magnetic coaxing into the waiting full landscape of Segway Nation and the expanse of the Aiming for Enrike sound. With additional fuzz and a busy nature to its rock ‘n’ roll, the track has attention and appetite firmly hooked before handing both over to its successor.

Riget similarly has ears snared from its first throws of imagination; post punk/noise rock psychosis leaping at the senses with matching rhythms. It nags and niggles away like a glorious itch that scratching can only deflect momentarily, each strain of temptation more compelling and irresistible than the last while the following Mad Driver is an over active ride which is almost like being locked in a car crazed computer game; like a jazzy version of Mario Kart.

Already there is an open freedom to each piece of music. It is almost as if the band is physically busking in ears with the suggestion that each play of a track by them will always differ from another, something replicated in a way by new aspects being revealed with every listen to the album. New twists and turns certainly make up each highly enjoyable venture into Billion Year Contract, a spatial almost sci-fi spiced flight though shimmering melodies and fiery textures escorted by restrained yet tenacious percussion.

Through the brief distorted scenery and discord of Minitrue and the riveting drama of Ushikawa, the album continues to enthral and add to its already potent persuasion. The second of the two is especially contagious and rousing as it inspires thoughts of mystery and intrigue involved in dark escapades though throughout it reassures the senses with a celebratory air to its hooks and melodies. The track is superb and swiftly matched by the sonic dissonance of Now Watch This Drive. Again its drama holds numerous twists and suggestive turns to try and interpret or simply cast one’s own adventure from, the increasing volatile beats of Ørnes perfectly framing the building creative theatre of Følstad Nilsen’s guitar.

There is little time for the imagination to relax across Segway Nation either. Both the exotically unpredictable Necrocratic Republic and the sinister yet haunting Phone Phobia lay stronger temptation after bewitching temptation on body and mind to engross and almost mentally exhaust when added to the busy adventure already offered while the album’s title track expands the shadowy context of its predecessor with its own rhythmic and sonic slice of emotional espionage and inventive intimation.

Brought to a close by firstly the low key, melancholic ambience of Almost All of Them and finally the dynamic tango of Nakata Johnny Walker, a track which again has the body bouncing from first to last second with its catchy swing and often off-kilter devilry. The closing flames of brass and cosmopolitan hues ensures it and album leave the listener absorbed and ready to go again, something so easy to do.

Segway Nation is one of those album’s you would probably not go explore without a hint or two, so consider this a big nudge and go treat yourselves.

Segway Nation is released May 6^th via Name Music across most online stores.

https://www.facebook.com/aimingforenrike   http://www.namemusic.no/aimingforenrike/

Pete Ringmaster 06/05/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com

Tender Age – Disappear Here EP

Their sound is a challenge and seduction hard to shake off; an infestation of noise and harmonic invasiveness which runs at odds with the band’s name yet has an unfussy innocence and bold outlook in thought and voice which compliments it. The Oregon hailing Tender Age are the sculptors of the bracing proposal and the Disappear Here EP, the evidence of its compelling persuasion.

The successor to the successful Get High single of last October, Disappear Here provides three new entanglements of the senses, psyche, and the band’s experimental pop alongside two startling and fascinating covers which swiftly feel as if they belong to the imagination of Tender Age. Whether you wish to describe the band’s sound as bedroom pop, caustic shoegaze, or lo-fi indie, and it is all that and more, it makes for an ears and imagination bracing incitement which feels even more sonically bullish and creatively bracing on the new EP compared to the previous single alone. Recorded, mixed and produced by the band and Eric Sabatino, Disappear Here invades with fuzz fuelled guitars whilst a near toxic scuzz of noise corrodes the air. Within that though melodies smoulder and flame whilst vocals serenade with beauty undiluted by the rawness around them.

It opens with Lowers, an initially low key affair with slowly unwinding rhythms leading ears into the enchanted landscape of vocal seduction and melodic expression. As swiftly though, the abrasing fuel of the band’s sound is potently shaping song and thoughts as the guitars of vocalists Tauna Leonardo and Elaina Tardif, matched by fellow six string craftsman Christopher Klarer, entwine and evolve into darker and harsher protagonists. The track is mesmeric, an absorbing trespass which especially hits the sweet spot when the sonic animus of noise takes over and violates psyche and senses.

It is a thrilling start matched by the melodically hazy Delirium. It is easy to offer My Bloody Valentine as a hint to the infectious bond between ear and song which quickly grows, though equally a whiff of bands like Throwing Muses and Breeders comes to mind too as the lighter elements float around the rhythmic spine and shuffle of drummer Nick Ferrucci and bassist Bryan Robertson. Less demanding and no less bewitching than its predecessor, the song slips away for the outstanding devilment of NO. Discord drips from every note and syllable offered with fuzz expectantly lining the walls of the mouth-watering enslaving of ears and imagination though even that seems to wear even more disorientating off-kilter devilment . British eighties Young Marble Giants nudge thoughts as the song resonates and pulsates with its sonic toxicity, their lo-fi beauty an undercurrent to the dissonant majesty at play within this gorgeous encounter.

The best track on the EP is followed by the two covers, starting with the Bobby Darin classic Dream Lover. Tender Age twist it, turn it inside out, and dissect it again with their sonic prowess yet still retain the melancholic air and melodic embrace the song has forever endeared ears with. Its examination of the senses and igniting of lusty reactions is followed by I Love How You Love Me; the Paris Sisters gem in turn infected and explored by the band’s raw simmering sound and unique imagination. Spoken vocals collude with sonic smog, haunting and romancing the senses simultaneously whilst bringing a kiss of the original to bear on nostalgic passions for an alluring and highly enjoyable finale.

The Disappear Here EP is a beguiling and at times almost rabid tempting of body and soul from a band which continues to show itself as one of the unique voices in noise and melody bred invention. So be bold and be blessed by exploring the raw world of Tender Age is our suggestion.

The Disappear Here EP is available now digitally and on cassette and 12” vinyl @ http://tenderage.bandcamp.com/album/disappear-here-ep-11-vinyl-cassette via SINIS Recordings.

http://tenderage.tv/   https://www.facebook.com/TenderAgepdx

Pete RingMaster 20/04/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com

Humans The Size Of Microphones – Human Crop Circles

Human Crop Circles is an album which just highlights how difficult it is to be noticed in the music scene. Released by SuperFire Records in conjunction with De Graanrepubliek, the album comes from Humans The Size Of Microphones, a British hardcore/noise rock band around in the first years of this new century. Their reputation and presence did not carry too far outside of the South coast area of the UK it is fair to say and maybe without any expectations of success at some point called it a day, a disbandment we are assuming as no search came up with anything active from the band or, to be honest, about them at all. As Human Crop Circles quickly reveals, this is a crying shame as its songs simply provide one furiously thrilling and rousing incitement of ears and imagination.

At one point slated to do a split with Electric Wizard, it is hard to imagine that HTSOM did not make some major impressions on someone somewhere. An early self-released five-track demo did appear in 2002, though it too probably got lost in the mists of criminal neglect. Recorded by the band’s drummer John T Baptist in his own studio, where the likes of Electric Wizard, No, Facel Vega, Hunting Lodge, and Field Boss have also recorded, Human Crop Circles has thankfully been uncaged to right some wrongs and introduce a new wealth of ears to the rather wonderful and mercurial tempest of sound that is Humans The Size Of Microphones.

The album bursts into life with Pissing Like A Racehorse where climactic guitars and tenacious rhythms crowd ears for an incendiary start which is soon an even more enjoyably volatile affair as vocals cries and a bedlamic character expose themselves in the mix. The early urgency settles a touch without defusing the now psychotic maelstrom and air of the song, but rises again as seriously addictive bass and guitar enterprise casts a web of sonic psychosis which in turn breeds greater ferocity in the noise punk tempest. It is glorious stuff, like a mix of Melvins, Neurosis, Halfling’s Leaf, and Dope Body; the kind of comparisons which occur often across the release.

The brilliant start is as potently backed up by No One Gets Out Of Here Alive, another magnetic slice of noise imagination and punk attitude as raw and seductive as it is magnetically and antagonistically inflamed. From the first pair of sonically intricate yet bullishly demanding songs alone it is hard to know how the band escaped attention but equally just an example of so many other stories of now lost to the world special bands.

The post-hardcore textured Middle England (Eats it’s Young) steps up next, its initial emotive wash the prelude to a tantalising weave of mystique soaked grooves and bolshie yet anthemic group vocal tempting amidst muscularly tenacious rhythms and mesmeric sonic devilment. It is more than a match for the already established pinnacles of the album and almost equalled by the following flirtatious seducing shared by The Smell of Wet Leaves. Sludgy and predatory but also alive with veins of sultry melodic grooving, the track shares an early dark and catchy lure which subsequently gets turned on its head by caustic energy and creative ferocity before re-establishing itself in another smouldering passage within the eventful encounter. Without quite having the final spark to turn personal tastes lusty, the track still leaves pleasure full in its presence before being over shadowed by the outstanding Fucking Tsunami.

The fifth track just grips and thrills ears from its first bestial bassline and swiping rumble of beats; bass and drums becoming puppeteer of body and passions whilst leading both into the concussive and hellacious exploits of the song’s full body and heart. The sonic and emotive turbulence is exhausting and breath-taking, as too the twisted melodic resourcefulness which lines every twist in the track’s dervish like shuffle. As in all songs, drama comes with every moment and unpredictable turn too; here devilishly enhancing the punk meets post punk meets noise rock triumph of the song. The bass and rhythmic unity of James Hasbeen and Baptist respectively ensures the track has instincts involved, the almost corrosive sonic endeavour of guitarist Pete Sake (all names as fun as the sounds fair to say) just reinforcing the persuasion.

The final quintet of tracks come from that aforementioned demo, each a harsher and more abrasive proposal but all carrying the inventive and multi-flavoured traits that give character to all tracks. Not Exactly Rocket Science is a rousing affair of aurally poisonous punk rock whilst Limitless Stupidity is an insatiable deluge of barbarous rhythms aligned to hostility flamed riffs and vocals further blessed with spicy hooks. The pair ensures ears and appetite continue to be well fed though maybe not as dramatically as the outstanding sonic invasion of I See The World Through Rose Coloured Testicles, an uncompromising and bewitching instrumental that just gets the tongue licking lips.

The pair of Dying For An Audience and Not In Our Name bring the album to a close; the first a fibrous net of riffs and acidic grooves which wraps ears before closing ranks for another bruising and inhospitable storm of hardcore whilst its successor with matching sonic antipathy, spews a tangle of punk hooks and spiky grooves around a battlefield of rhythms. With vocals just as agreeably rancorous, the duo provides a fine end to a great and welcome surprise introduction to a band we had no idea existed.

Maybe they will again as Human Crop Circles invades more and more ears but even if that optimistic hope is not realised, punk and noise rock enthusiasts need to have Humans The Size Of Microphones somewhere in their historical landscapes.

Human Crop Circles is out now via SuperFi / De Graanrepubliek and available @ http://superfirecords.bandcamp.com/album/human-crop-circles-lp or https://graanrepubliekrecords.bandcamp.com/album/human-crop-circles

Pete RingMaster 08/04/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

Lower Automation – Maps

You have seen those scenes in movies where people are strapped in front of a screen and bombarded with rapid brainwashing images; finally succumbing to the kaleidoscope of ravenous suggestiveness. Listening to Maps, the debut EP from US experimental punks Lower Automation, is like a sonic version of that; a proposition gripping the psyche with its quick fire and voracious onslaught of mathcore and noise rock trespasses. The difference is that Maps is a welcome infestation of ears and imagination which with every listen becomes more and more tenaciously seductive.

Hailing from Chicago, the seeds of Lower Automation begin with experimental/post-rock band Counterfeit I and Derek Allen who came from the band to form the new “kinetic frenzy” posing as Lower Automation  that is about to invade the rock scene. His former project found potent success which, from Maps alone, it is easy to suggest the threesome of Brian Sutton, Matt Walen, and Derek has the potential to eclipse.

Recorded with Sanford Parker (Pelican, Wovenhand), Maps instantly entangles the senses and a quickly eager appetite in the discord fuelled enterprise and sonic dissonance of opener Ring. It is a striking web of imagination which flirts and picks at ears with unpredictable and incessantly hungry dynamics; a creative dilemma for the senses  which plays like the mutated offspring of a liaison between At The Drive In, Devo, Wire, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Fair to say though that the song quickly breeds its own unique character and devilment as frenetic bursts align with, and become tempered by, ‘mellower’ flirtatious passages as song and band reveals new sides to their rebellious adventure. It is when the creative ‘psychosis’ breaks loose though that lustful passions are especially sparked and further the track’s attempts to steal the whole show.

The excellent start though is more than matched by the band’s new single Decorated; the song swiftly showing itself another invasive tapestry of rhythmic agitation and raw sonic virulence. There is a much catchier almost pop element to the song too, the likes of Baddies and We Are The Physics coming to mind at times, though again as it warps into distorted spatial atmospherics Lower Automation show the fullness of their imagination and an invention which is all their own.

Break Room Curators offers a more noise rock sculpted venture; its body and features slightly more fluid in their infectious flow than certainly the first song but still casts a dark and sinister, not forgetting infectiously flowing, tirade of off-kilter and intrusive discordance in voice and melodic toxicity amidst scything rhythms. The track does lack a certain spark that its predecessors irresistibly carries but it still leaves enjoyment high and ears eager to devour more, which the following caustic maelstrom of The Cartographer feeds impressively. The track is a maze of sonic paradoxes and melodic toxins with an emotive angst to match as it rummages through the psyche, blisters on the senses, and fascinates the imagination.

Closing with the initially hellacious exploits of Scissor Lapses, the EP offers a final glimpse into the creative craft and aberrant imagination of Lower Automation. The song proceeds to explore a cacophonous and demandingly addictive landscape of sweeping hooks and inviting grooves within an ever evolving exploration of rabid sound and unpredictability; finally leaving on a senses invading sonic clamour.

It is a fine end to a thrilling debut from Lower Automation; a release which has certain familiar and welcome traits but is a whole new psychotic frenzy of invention ready to infect an as yet unsuspecting rock world.

Maps is released April 1^st @ https://lowerautomation.bandcamp.com

Upcoming US Tour Dates:

3/5 – Skeletunes Lounge | Fort Wayne, IN

3/12 – The Oasis | Grayslake, IL

4/8 – The Refuge | Pana, IL

4/10 – Bremen Cafe | Milwaukee, WI

4/13 – The Rockery | Wyandotte, MI

4/14 – Buzzbin | Canton, OH

4/15 – Spacebar | Columbus, OH

4/16 – Crofoot | Pontiac, MI

https://www.facebook.com/lowerautomation
Pete RingMaster 28/03/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

SPInnERS – Ghost

SPInnERS are no strangers to the Greek underground scene but probably, as for us, an unknown quantity and indeed name further afield. With a push and an introduction here and there, that might change in the near future especially as more and more catch on to the band’s new album, Ghost. The nine track proposition is a ripe tapestry of flavours; from punk to grunge, post punk to indie rock, and plenty more, it is all infused into a raw and compelling, uncompromising and fascinating trespass on ears and imagination.

The Athens based band actually started back in 2008, making a swift impact with only their third live show coming as support to Dinosaur Jr in their home city. A three year hiatus swiftly followed though, before they returned and released debut album Everybody needs a lie in 2011. A self-titled successor lured greater attention with its release two years later, leading to a mini Balkan tour across Greece, Serbia, and the Macedonian city of Skopje. Now with the recently released Ghost sparking broader attention, the trio of vocalist/guitarist Panos, drummer Chris, and bassist Tommy O who joined the band following the departure of Vad who played on the latest album, are poised to become an eagerly talked of name on a broader expanse of lips.

First track upon Ghost is Unspoken Words and fair to say that within seconds its twisted lure of hooks and spiky grooves has ears attentive as tenacious rhythms drop agitated yet anthemic bait around them. With the plaintive nature of the vocals and indeed the melodic acidity which veins the encounter on top, the track quickly grows into a heftily alluring slice of sonic and emotive discord. It is bracing, leaning on the side of concussive and virulently gripping stuff sparking the album to a great start.

The following Same keeps ears and emotions similarly enthused; its abrasive but inviting body again speared by a potent line in imposing beats around a grouchily magnetic bassline. The vocals of Panos emotively and harmonically match the tempestuous sounds around it, flavours which unite in a post hardcore meets noise infused punk rock exploration of the senses.

The album’s title track steps forward next, its dissonant bellow carrying a more heavy rock/ grunge essence to its character whilst colluding with post punk/noise rock imagination. In many ways there is a great feel of seventies bands like Artery and The Membranes to the track, magnetic essences which continue to emerge as the likes of My dreams are dead and Mental Detox crawl over the senses. The first, from a yawning scraping of guitar string, slips into captivating sonic smog of thorny aggravation littered with addictive hooks and an almost barbarously persuasive swing whilst the second colours its matching rapacity in sound and attitude with warmer flowing melodies and group vocal roars. It too, is a song that is more an aggressor than seducer but the latter is what it emerges as for ears with its web of spicy grooves, throatily coaxing basslines, and fiercely involving rhythms.

Ghost hits its pinnacle over the next pair of songs, starting with Sick of You. A blend of old school punk and garage/noise rock, the track is irresistible as it plunders the passions with jangling lures and searing hooks, not forgetting more impossible to resist rhythmic tempting. Its triumph is emulated in Additional Expectations, another seemingly inspired by the post punk imagination of a Joy Division or Clock DVA but, as its predecessor, also sharing the infectious prowess of bands like fellow Greeks, Three Way Plane.

(The Apparition) provides a haunting breeze of melancholic sound around a poem performed by Julian Glover next, a track wrong-footing the listener but enticing the imagination before Wish me Well brings the album to a potent close with its thick tapestry of numerous styles and flavours previously mentioned in its own fresh and pleasing narrative. Arguably the most involved and unpredictable track on Ghost, and all songs defy the satisfying of expectations, the Bauhaus-esque song leaves a lingering impression and rich enjoyment as well as a want to explore the album all over again.

SPInnERS are nudging on greater and increasing attention outside of their homeland; a success if not now they will surely earn at some point with offerings like Ghost.

For more info on SPInnERS and Ghost check out https://www.facebook.com/SPInnERS-athensgr-180374258675694 and  https://spinnersathens.bandcamp.com/

SPInnERS Ghost Tour Dates;

Friday 18/3 Salonica (ypogeio) GREECE

Saturday 19/3 Kumanovo (cafe agora) F.Y.R.O.M

Sunday 20/3 Kraljevo SERBIA

Tuesday 22/3 Smederevska Palanka (Balkan rock club) SERBIA

Wednesday 23/3 Niksic (nk club) MONTENEGRO

Thursday 24/3 Podgorica (Montenegro pub) MONTENEGRO

Friday 25/3 Kosovska Mitrovica (Soho)

Saturday 26/3 Krusevac (club zamajac) SERBIA

Pete RingMaster 08/03/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

Kovax – Godot

The bio of British alternative/noise rock band Kovax states that the band “started in late 2015 as an itch that couldn’t be scratched, as music in the back of the mind that couldn’t be ignored.” It is an essence of nagging which also infests the listener we can knowledgeably announce now having been enjoyably compromised by the Leeds hailing quartet’s debut single, Godot. The two track release is a persistence of sound and character which leaves a lingering imprint on thoughts and psyche after providing a rousing, slightly psychotic adventure for ears.

Formed last year, but officially launched early 2016 through a four day tour following a few secret shows, Kovax quickly makes an attention grabbing impact with their debut single. Suggestions are that their ferociously dynamic sound is for fans of Deftones, Bring Me The Horizon, and Fightstar but imagine the raw energy of Reuben, the confrontational roar of early Therapy?, and the off-kilter punk maelstrom of a cross between Damn Vandals and Them Wolves, and you get nearer to the mark of the band’s gripping offering and the broadness of their sound.

Both mastered by Bob Cooper and recorded at Rec and Play Studios and with Harry Scott (Treason Kings) respectively, the two songs making up the band’s introduction need little time to make a strong impression. Godot opens with an instantly contagious hook which lays its swift bait, takes a moment’s breath, and then returns bigger and bolder with equally hungry rhythms and punk spawned riffs for company. Once in full stride, the track stalks the senses with the sonic feistiness of guitarists Pete Freeth and Dan Hey orchestrating the predation whilst the lead vocals, which we guess as being from Freeth, make a volatile conductor for this maelstrom of energy and aggression enjoyably igniting ears. It is soon realised though, that unpredictability is an equally potent key to the band’s sound, that shown by clean harmonies embracing a smouldering passage further coloured by the predatory tones of Joe Phillips’ bass strings and the niggly incitement of Isaac Turner’s sticks. It all adds up to making the track as enthralling as it is intrusively exhilarating. The web of ideas and sounds involved appear bedlamic at times but are bred with striking imagination and an instinctive volatility which only has the intent of turning on the body and emotions.

The accompanying Marigolds is maybe even more deranged in its nature and concussive tapestry of sound but just as superbly sculpted with ravenous energy and inventive twists for another virulent trespass of ears and an increasingly eager appetite. Once more there is a collusion of varied and at times contrasting textures with raw voracious sounds, as well as unexpected slips into melodic detours and explosive challenges to fascinate and thrill from start to finish.

Both songs invade and remain tapping into the psyche after their physical departure; an intimidation which only leaves a hunger for more. Godot is a mighty first listen to Kovax and a hint that we might just be getting in on the ground floor of something special with it.

Godot is out now and available as a free download @ http://www.musicglue.com/kovaxtheband/products/godot—free-download/

https://www.facebook.com/kovaxtheband   https://twitter.com/kovaxtheband

Pete RingMaster 16/02/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/