Do Nothing - Snake Sideways

After having released two terrifically snarling EPs, Do Nothing found themselves face-to-face with the one thing all who put pen to paper, or fingers to string fear: writer’s block. While the band’s post-punk revival contemporaries were all finding their own angular rhythm, all frontman Chris Bailey could see was the end of the band. And it’s all that anxiety, those frustrations that are channelled into debut album ‘Snake Sideways’. “They’re gonna fire you in the morning,” sings Chris, as he opens the record on ‘Nerve’ with an almost peaceful state of acceptance. ‘Snake Sideways’ is Do Nothing at their most introspective. The sound of a brain fizzing with worries purged via frenzied free association. These are raw nerves laid bare, but catharsis sits delicately alongside it all thanks to Do Nothing’s brand of everyday unusual: ‘Happy Feet’ is about finding comfort in a penguin-filled musical after all. It also finds the Nottingham outfit fully embracing melody. ‘Hollywood Learn’ with its harpsichord, twinkling piano and lolloping bass finds an unusual beauty amid cries of “There goes my last chance / To chicken out”. In an unlikely twist, ‘The Needle’ even flirts with the early ‘00s pop rock of – whisper it - Keane. But there’s just enough of their early spikiness to keep things interesting. A gurgling guitar line here. A prettily pulsing synth there. It’s a far cry from the days of their breakthrough ‘Lebron James’ funk, but it all works to bring a sense of hope in the face of the frontman’s despondency. But he needn’t worry. If ‘Snake Sideways’ is anything to go by, the end of Do Nothing is nowhere in sight yet.