PUKK, Crashing - EP review
Like those pesky buses, two PUKK releases come (nearly) at once.
It took them an age to get their debut record together due to budget and life restraints, but soon after its release in September, this four-track EP is hot on its heels as of yesterday.
It's not quite the same Brit-rock sound that encapsulated much of the 90s on that debut record, dipping its fingers into this and that and demonstrating perhaps why these tracks didn't quite make the cut for Feckless. Here country and blues rock hold court.
Read more: PUKK, Feckless - album review
But it is touched upon. Oldboy does delve headlong into that angsty guitar sound that emits frustration at the world around them. Punchy bass carries the groaning riffs like a stropping child and it's ably backed up by the fun-time stick work of drummer Mark Beamson.
It's the EP's best moment. And it reminds us of the serious yet not-so-serious approach of PUKK that made Feckless such a smooth, dystopian record like swilling down the finest Scotch in a late-night live music bar.
Also harking back to that era is Off Air - a remix of their track by Midlands-based musician and DJ Bashful. It's like drifting drunkenly between consciousness and sleep. The airy, swooning sound with that intermittent distortion sounding like the smash hit Spaceman by Wolverhampton's Babylon Zoo.
Closing track 13 (The Man In Black) carries a darker country sound to it with its rolling motion. Joe Chalmers' deep vocals punctuate the soft percussion while the intermittent guitars point the way to the song's conclusion.
Read more: Shropshire Unsigned duo PUKK discuss their new record Feckless
There is also a deep, dark feel to the opener Terms And Conditions, like Nick Cave lamenting the arrival of a badly-timed shower at his summer barbecue. This is a really boozy track that swings between broody and soaring from verse to chorus. Potentially another live hit, its siren guitar solo also momentarily provides a louder lift from the gloom as it slides from side to side.
Again produced by Magic Garden Studio's Gavin Monaghan, it is a brief reminder of what this Shropshire duo can do.
Rating: 6/10
The crashing EP is available now on all digital outlets. For more on PUKK follow them on Twitter @OfficialPukk
