So good is the opener here, “Smoke”, that you are tempted to go looking for the other Okay You Win records so you can listen to them all. Then you realise this is the debut from the Londoners.
It is a sensational affair. Full of energy, yet psychedelic too. It might remind you of another London band, one that called it a day last year: Orange Goblin.
Big shoes to fill, admittedly, but for all that Dave Kirk sings, “trying to keep my feet on the ground”, it doesn’t sound like the music wants to.
“Beat Me Down” has a bassline from Rodrigo Barradas that absolutely swaggers. Arena-ready is a state of mind, right? Because “Beat Me Down” doesn’t seem to want to be constrained. “I’ll take all my scars but never my defeat” offers the lyric. Surely that’s a mission statement.
End Of Days emerges on Blues Funeral Recordings and it is only fitting that, on the label that is home to Elder, there should be some music that kind of lurks before attacking. “The Greatest Lie” does exactly that, but goodness me, Okay You Win can knock a riff out. And they do here.
Ryan O’Hare’s guitar work is exceptional, and the way these songs twist and turn is equally thrilling. “This Damned Place” explodes into its chorus, while the title track builds itself to a giant crescendo. It is also the centrepoint and centrepiece of the record.
“Red Flag” waves itself in a very 90s grunge type of way, and it is leaner and meaner than many of the rest. Drummer Antonio Peci enjoys himself here too, especially in the closing outro.
“Ten Year Trip” has a proper groove and a kind of Soundgarden-fighting-with-Green-Lung-in-a-battle-to-be-heard vibe, while Kirk roars “while the world dies” over the top.
There is plenty of anger in “Own It”, but whatever struggles are here, the words “if you don’t let it break you, you can start again” suggest this might be catharsis for them all.
Many of these songs have been knocking around for a couple of years, having appeared on a live recording back in 2024, but be very glad they are finally seeing the light of day in studio form.
Indeed, Okay You Win don’t appear ready to concede anything to anybody.
As good a debut as you’ll hear.
Rating: 8.5/10
