Kikker – Freak accident E.P. Review
Kikker are a relatively new band on the Swansea scene but they’re young energetic and getting out there and getting themselves noticed, which means they must be doing something right, I’ve caught them live a few times now, they make a lot of the kind of noises I like, so I thought I’d give their debut E.P. a listen.
Recorded and Mixed by Richard Rose at of R*E*P*E*A*T records its a Lo-Fi, fuzzy, thrashy, punk affair that’s probably best played loud. It kicks off with the title track “Freak Accident”, which starts with nothing but guitars and vocals for the best part of the opening minute and ten seconds of the song, which does work well but is a bold move for the opening track, especially when the song is only about 3 minutes long to start with. Everything about the verses of this song is jagged and staccato, its all very rhythmic, even the vocals are almost like some kind of beat poet reciting lines in time with those guitar parts. Of course that just gives the song a lot more impact when it kicks in properly and the energy levels go up a few notches and its gets more driving and noisier, its a nice contrast between the two parts, its more of a space and no space dynamic rather than a loud / quiet dynamic but nonetheless works really well, with a nice simple lead part on the guitar when the song kicks in and the drums getting thrashier towards the end of the tune ramping it up to a good noisy punk finale. Nice work
Track two “Aint Ever” is another short sharp burst of energy after a short intro with a nice bassline – well I say short its about a 40 second intro on a 2 minute song, so not that short really – it bursts into life after that with driving guitars and the drums pushing it along from behind to give it loads of energy, its fast and frantic once it kicks in with more of those punchy vocals covered in reverb, this song is a song of two parts really an atmospheric start with loads of space and a high energy sprint finish with loads thrashing about.
The third and final track on this E.P. “The Louse” is a slightly different animal, with bass and drums doing most of the work in the verse pushing along a slower almost lumbering, swaying sort of groove while we get more of that beat poet style vocals over the top, again with plenty of reverb on them, there’s some nice little atmospheric guitar scratches before it joins in with the groove and things build up nicely through the second half of the verse in to a slower but no less energetic chorus with cymbals being thrashed away on by the drummer, who does a great job of building the dynamics gradually throughout the song so that its not too much of a shock to the system when that chorus crashes in, hey I’m a drummer, I notice these things and appreciate them. This is a noisy stomper of a tune that’s a nice contrast to the other two on the EP without being too different, its probably my favourite of the three if I’m honest, and well that’s what I’m here for.
This three track EP is a great debut from a young local band, its Lo-Fi and noisy, its energetic and driving, its punk, its alternative, Its a good representation of the band and how they sound live. If you like fuzzed up, noisy, fast energetic music give these guys a listen.
Listen to Freak Accident:
Soundcloud
Bandcamp