Preceding their upcoming second EP ‘Paycheck’, ‘Pussycat’ is a raucous departure from Dutch songwriter Pip Blom’s previous acoustic indie rock. Two guitars duel whilst Pip purrs and unsympathetically growls quintessential garage-rock that explodes throughout the track from the very first riff. The girl-next-door has dropped her acoustic guitar and is smashing down your door, flailing with possessed fury.
21-year-old, converse-adorning Blom sneers a feisty nature that refuses to be contained, using youthful frustration as a loaded gun of lyrical spite that is as enigmatic as it is angry. She projects the erratic, raw energy of early Blur, straying into more furious Sonic Youth territory that similar bands in the indie rock genre, such as Black Honey or Goat Girl, may be too cautious to dip into. Blom has a musical maturity that I’ve rarely seen from bands this early in their career. She knows how to form the hook of a garage-rock song; captures the bitter frustration that today’s youth face. ‘Pussycat’ is a revealing turn into the shadows of garage-rock from a talented and promising siren of indie.
Nine Inch Nails unveiled the brooding menace that will surround their upcoming ninth LP ‘Bad Witch’ with dizzying new track ‘God Break Down the Door’. Over wailing saxophone that hasn’t been present since the band’s earlier work, lead-singer Trent Reznor incubates moaning jazz vocals that channels Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’; a disarray of primal drums and dizzying synth mixing with waves of distortion to kick a nauseating dance beat.
The song features possible acknowledgments of Reznor’s past drug addiction, warning of the downward spiral that comes with trying to solve one’s issues through inebriant misuse: “You won’t find the answers here – not the ones you’re looking for”
A track enigmatic enough to cause a polarising reaction from their fanbase, Nine Inch Nails have created more questions than answers with this experimental addition to their ever-changing discography. Love it or hate it, it’s toxically different; quintessentially Nine Inch Nails.
Nothing But Thieves takes us back to a time when we lost our minds, with ‘Crazy‘, a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s 2006 song of the same name. The song’s narrative depicts a man confronting his ex-lover about their unreasonable madness and inability to own up to their mistakes – a tale similar to the lyrics of Nothing But Thieves’ own two albums. Be prepared for a rare treat of familiarity that somehow feels entirely fresh.
Released for Record Store Day 2018, the single is a grieving slow-build with a bitter twist, transforming the high-beat lyrics of the original track and distorting them into a woeful ballad, reminding us of the haunting melancholy that put the Southend-on-Sea band on our radars back in 2015 with their debut album.
The distorted instrumentals instil an anxiety that explodes into quintessential alternative rock, spiralling with lead-singer Conor Mason’s bewildering, pained vocals; easily cemented as one of rock’s most promising vocalists. ‘Crazy’ is a perfect choice of cover that shows the comfort Nothing But Thieves have with their own sound, proving that they’re much more than their name suggests. Or does that make me crazy?