East end noise merchants False Heads, Luke Griffiths (guitar/vocals), Jake Elliot (bass), and Barney Nash (drums), have played with the likes of The Libertines, Josh Homme, and Band of Skulls, with a ringing endorsement from the legendary Iggy Pop. They release their latest four track EP `Cracked` and head out on an intimate five date tour at the end of April in support of said release.
Title track `Cracked` opens with some intricate guitar riffs and a tapped drumbeat before racing along with a powerful wall of controlled noise and vocals that have a real nervous anxious ridden texture. A track that seems to refer to a trail of deceit. A rolling rhythmic drumbeat leads us into `Loose` which has a pounding, thumping foot tapping beat that won`t fail to get you at least nodding your head along to.
`Black and Blue` is a kind of stream of consciousness shared over an underlying pulsing riff filled platform. The final offering `Leader For Now` has a dreamy but at the same time forceful appeal. A song whose melody will really get into your subconscious and have you humming it for the rest of the day.
The `Cracked` extended play with its themes of rage, family, trauma, erosion of class from left-wing cultural politics, and the disastrous rise of fascism and grifting right-wing figures like Andrew Tate is a brief taster of the diversity and range that this alternative grunge, punk, rock trio have to offer. It seems as if it`s a nod towards what`s to come with the band`s third studio album on the horizon.
On the strength of what`s shared on this EP, the live shows are gonna be brutal and a definite must see.
Rating 9/10
