KILLDREN – first two EPs

As Killdren have been kind enough to re-release their first two EPs as a single CD it would seem rude not to take a look?

Firstly there is the music, which takes centre stage alongside Efa’s enormous voice. Nick produces that brutal breed of techno that is specifically designed to properly fuck up your head after too many class As. It is a relentless hard-core assault on the senses and rightfully deserves the title of ‘techno punk’. Then add to the mix the periodically tuneful vocals and frankly hilarious lyrics of Efa and you have an band that genuinely sound like absolutely no one else.

Opening track for EP number one (Overkill Is Underated) ‘Work harder fuckers’ sets the tone for the rest of the album with its banging beats on no holds barred anti capitalist message. Then we get ‘Save the world kill your children’ which offers an immediate solution to the approaching climate catastrophe as well as a proper dose of honest opinion about those annoying little rug rats that plague the lives of so many of our former friends. Unsurprisingly it is an absolute favourite with their comrades who’ve been stupid enough to propagate themselves.

‘Empires all crumble’ continues the theme of our approaching doom while ‘Designed to fail’ is a satisfying anti consumerist rant. Then we get ‘Tory scum’ the song that catapulted them to infamy earlier this year, as tabloid hacks went into a pitiful competition as to who could feign the most outrage over its accompanying video. It opens with a classic (and actually quite prophetic) example of Johnson chatting shit prior to his more recent idiocy, but politics aside it is one of their most danceable tracks and lodges itself inside your head from its first listen. EP one ends with ‘Prophets of Doom’ which is more of a polemic against the arms trade than a song, reminiscent of those info-packed rants that Chumbawamba bombarded us with back in the mid to late 1980s.

EP two (Disguise the limit) kicks off with what has to my personal favourite, which was sadly overlooked by the tabloid feeding frenzy which erupted during the summer. ‘Blood runs blue’ celebrates that fine and sadly missed tradition of beheading monarchs. It is a techno-punk masterpiece that combines catchy words with a banging beat that is perfect in its pitch and simplicity.

‘Need to crash’ explores the housing crisis in all its gory detail with some truly unsettling samples chucked into the mix. ‘If only you cared’ and ‘Yes master’ (with a bit of added Gollum) rail against evils of double standards and servility while ‘What are you fighting for’ takes a more reflective swipe at progressives. Every song has a message and no one is immune to their critical eye. ‘Hypocrites’ concludes EP number two with a proper call to arms and some merciless self-criticism.

But don’t pause for breath because those sneaky techno terror-twins have squeezed four remixes of the above tracks onto the end of this record just to ensure that you get your monies worth. Dance music has not been this political since the Tories attacked the free festival scene with their Criminal Justice Act in the mid 1990s and we responded with a full-scale riot in Park Lane. Top work.

 

By Guy Smallman