From under the counter: Heart Attack Kids - S/T

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: LONDON MUSIC HUB
Heart Attack Kids released S/T, a face-melting EP that's psychedelic garage rock with a bit of punk.

Heart Attack Kids made a splash on the London punk scene this year, playing some intense and loud shows before dropping its self-titled debut like an anchor in water. This banger of an EP is face-melting – in a good way – oozing in bouncy psychedelic garage rock while still keeping its punk edge at the forefront.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, being in a two-piece band is hard. It takes a lot of power to hold your weight with full ensembles. You need to cover the bottom end, the top end, the vocals, the percussion, and still deliver it all without being sloppy. Gear plays a huge part in this, and I find that sheer loudness is one of those things you need in this kind of music to garner interest from the audience.

With this EP, it sounds full with a variety of octave-based effects adding low frequencies to the spectrum and pummeling drums that keep a tight knit groove. The super fuzzy guitars and spacey vocals give it a very Death From Above 1979 sort of feel, which is extremely pleasing to hear when it’s recorded at a place like The Sugar Shack, which has hosted many London bands in its studio space.

From a production standpoint, it perfectly captures this band. It’s not too dry sounding but not dull either. It’s crisp and precise, with all parts coming through fantastically. The drums sound clear too, a hard thing to pull off. With this band, you’re taken in by its sheer presence, but you wouldn’t really expect it from some relatively quiet and humble dudes.

I was happy to host Heart Attack Kids in my basement over this summer, and the band even kept the recording of it on its Bandcamp page – see Live at Radish Fest 2014. The band played great, made my walls rumble and ceiling quake with power. It was really cool to see, and I’m glad they’ve only gone forward since then.

You can listen to both of these releases at heartattackkids519.bandcamp.com.