Rebirth may well be the title of this new three track EP from London / Brighton act Junkie Kut but don’t worry about them having wimped out or changed direction, there are still lashings of aggroggressive, electronic, sonic beats behind them. It appears that what was a solo act has now expanded into a trio and this can only mean an expansion of the sound both on disc and live which is no bad thing at all. You can also check them out in action on the video-clip to one of these new tracks here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM90d4FQeP4#t=268
I have really enjoyed all the material from this act so far and the new tracks, although only three of them, have continued to impress no end. One of the things I noted is that there is a lot of old school flavours about them. Now I’m not talking metal, punk, hardcore or any of that and probably should say old skool but these tracks take me back to raves that I and many other metal-heads no doubt found themselves chemically stumbling across in the 90’s wondering what they were doing there. There are lots of fist pumping moments (thankfully no whistles though) to be found here. ‘Guardians’ gets the adrenaline flowing with the theme of enslavement by oppressive forces still very much at the forefront. It’s angry, catchy as hell and fast and furious with an air of brick hurling anarchy coursing through it. It’s music for a jilted generation but not one that are going out in multi coloured clown outfits to dance the night away but with causing subversion and chaos at their heart. As they used to annoyingly say “bangin choon!” In line with that rebirth, ‘Caterpillar, Butterfly’ brings in some old style trance moves from the keyboards before slowly unwinding with both rasping and clean vocals, getting some metallic licks out from the guitar department and blending them with the electronic backbone. Some beats, beeps and bouncy head banging rhythms flow through this and it’s another compelling and addictive smash of a track building into gabba-tastic pounding and all sorts of sonic effects. Finishing things off is ‘Enslaved (By The Shadow Of The Rock Star)’ which I am guessing is all about ego, something that many musicians have in spades. An almost industrial clamour crashes from the percussion and pulses strobe away like an intergalactic battle as the word “bullshit” is spat out with venom. They eventually hit what I can only describe as the Ibiza party rave button which brings a smile to my face before the track abrasively judders away to conclusion.
Mixing up and crossing-over plenty of ideas Junkie Kut have definitely hit on a winning formula as far as I am concerned. It might be a sound that more traditional readers will run from screaming but you never know. In case you want to find out you can download all three tracks free from the link below! An album is apparently on the way later this year.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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