EP Review KEG - Girders

Having spent the last 12 months winning followers with a raucous and chaotic live presence, the release of KEG’s second EP ‘Girders’ bottles their increasingly manic brand of kitchen-sink post-punk into a whirlwind 6-song set. A-brim with splintered guitars and Squid-esque scream-vocals - inflected by colourful keyboard swirls and trombone slides - KEG come across like Dexys Midnight Runners headlining the Windmill; jerky and jet-propelled; ripe for a boozed-up dance, with a quaint whiff of middle-class British suburbs taking it home. While ‘Kids’ shows the band at their most irreverent - “Daddy! I want an itsu!” - there is plenty of sophistication hidden up their collective sleeves - a tender lyric or melody striking at an unforeseen moment; thunderous surges that are frankly orchestral. Though there are formulae at play here we’ve certainly felt before, there’s an undeniable freshness here in Keg’s debonair. But most importantly, with tunes that are as catchy as they are direct, they are also insanely fun.