Punk trio The Kenneths really, really don’t want you to listen to their new five-track EP, EX. Which is a shame really, as it might just be one of the best EPs I’ve heard in quite some while.
The Kenneths are original, which in this day and age of over-produced pop music is as much of a welcome relief as that bottle of water nice security guards sometimes give you after a particularly intense mosh pit. With a social media campaign imploring people not to listen to their songs, a music video for single ‘Model Man’ that deserves to win every single music video award ever, and most recently, the downright inspired release of ‘Answer Machine’ – a song which, prior to the EP release, could only be listened to by ringing a number and listening to it on, you guessed, an answer machine – The Kenneths are DIY at its best, and it’s a testament to the band’s hard work that at the time of writing this review, they’re sitting happily at no. 27 in the iTunes chart. As frontman Josh Weller put it – not bad for a band with no label.
Having discovered The Kenneths in all their sweaty punk glory as they supported fellow rockers Dead! at the 100 Club back in February, I’ve been waiting impatiently for their EP release – the tracks ‘Answer Machine’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out With You’ were my favourite that the band played live – and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. If anything, it’s even better than I could have hoped for. Punk music takes many forms, but at its heart, it’s noisy, fast, and driven by the dirty riffs and heavy drums that made punk music such a revelation in the 70’s, and it’s this same energy that The Kenneths encapsulate in this absolutely storming EP. Whilst their songs capture the classic punk sound (is ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out With You’ a reference to The Ramones’ ‘I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You’?) its anything but outdated, and instead manages to retain that classic sound whilst looking forward to the future, and what punk music could become. If this EP is anything to go by, punk has some very good times ahead of it.
By: Phoebe Hagan