By Jim Rowland
Mylan, Benedict, Elliot and Alexander from Royal Tunbridge Wells may sound like they’re the latest recruits to the local Young Conservative Club, but as young punk upstarts Animal Shithouse they certainly appear to at odds with that perception as they launch an EP with serious angst-ridden attitude in the shape of ‘Who Taught You To Hate?’
Of course, Animal Shithouse are not the first punk band to hail from Tunbridge Wells, with punk rock royalty Anti-Nowhere League hailing from there more than 40 years previously, and more contemporary acts Soft Play and Lady Bird also providing inspiration.
Cleverly marrying the old with the new, ‘Who Taught You To Hate?’ fuses a hardcore punk ethic with contemporary electronic beat flavours to offer something fresh and different. ‘Downing A Red Stripe And Punching An Old Lady Called Penny’ is a great slice of harsh, abrasive and chaotic hardcore punk that suddenly veers off into an unexpected almost latin-style interlude, both ‘Snowing In March’ and ‘2.53’ are spoken word soundscapes with an unsettling and claustrophobic edge, and ‘CK’ is a cracking fusion of electric and guitar flavours offering the EPs most accessible moment. All the aforementioned flavours come together for the intense final track ‘Enemy’.
It’s all over in a mere 13 minutes, but ‘Who Taught You To Hate?’ is an inventive, intense, abrasive, chaotic, dark and disturbing listen mixing an old school punk ethic with a strong contemporary twist. If you plump for the CD version, there are an extra six tracks (not available here for review), boasting more great titles like ‘I Just Punched Piers Morgan’ and ‘I Lost My Mandy (In The Sainsbury’s Car Park)’.
- ‘Who Taught You To Hate?’ is released on Friday (1 December).
- Animal Shithouse play the New Cross Inn on Wednesday 6 December.
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.