Angry, Bombastic, Chaotic, Defiant, Exhilarating, Ferocious, Genre-defying, Heart-stopping……….
Alien Chicks are all these and more. Impossible to characterise and utterly unpredictable. This is a band who moved to Brixton to be part of the Windmill Brixton’s music community, and there they have thrived.
The trio now bring us their new EP Toys Taken At Birth released via new label home Alcopop! Records. Opener ‘Madmen’ begins calmly enough but the hint of what is to come is there within the first few bars. It turns into a full frontal assault, “Democracy doesn’t exist anymore” is shouted angrily, spat out with a furious disdain.
‘Now I’m Big’ follows with its off-kilter vibe skitting around hither and thither. Crisp percussion sections sit atop feedback laden guitars, then its headfirst its gloriously chaotic instrumentation whose direction of travel is gloriously impossible to predict.
‘5/4’ is a highlight on Toys Taken At Birth, the manic punk funk is feral and ferocious – until it isn’t. The fast spoken part is astonishing and then it heads into a swing section, bizarrely including the lyrics: “if you go down to the woods today, you better go in disguise”. FYI 5/4 is a musical time signature with five quarter-note beats in every measure.
“Because five is an odd number that cannot divide evenly into pairs, 5/4 feels lopsided and creates forward momentum.”
This could describe Alien Chicks themselves. The forward momentum is ever present.
And then a complete U turn for ‘I Killed Uncle Ben’. This reviewer had to double check the EP was still playing, such was the vividly different soundscape. Both the rhythm and singing part are in a completely different style from the rest of the EP. Soaring in sections, it takes the listener to another time and place, intriguing in no small measure due to the song title. The bassline is thrilling and ‘I Killed Uncle Ben’ demonstrates the musical arsenal that this band have in their back pocket.
The final track brings us back to the off-kilter slightly chaotic, but here with a mystical eastern twist. ‘Get Yr Freak On’ jumps around and is impossible to contain. The order “go get yr freak on” has to be followed. Defiant and forthright the vocal delivery is passionate and expressive. The bounce is maintained throughout and it’s a wild ride to the very last note.
Alien Chicks is Josef Lindsay (guitar, vocals), Stefan Parker-Steele (bass, backing vocals) and Martha Daniels(drums, backing vocals) and they are a band for our times. The music mirrors the world we currently inhabit, depicting the chaos and confusion alongside the fury and frustration felt. This band stormed the States in March, playing New York’s New Colossus festival as well as Austin’s SXSW. They have announced tour dates. I’ll see you in the pit.
For more information on Alien Chicks please check their facebook instagram and tiktok.
Review: 9 out of 10