the new vice

If their previous EP wasn’t evidence enough, Otherkin’s latest release ‘The New Vice EP’ reminds us just how much fun their brand of pop-grunge can be to listen to. Since the release of ‘The 201 EP’, Otherkin have garnered a reputation as one of the Irish music scene’s top prospects thanks in equal parts to their short, vibrant, energetically punk-tinged songs and their notoriously riotous live shows.

‘The New Vice EP’ picks right up where the Dublin rockers left off last time around. Opening track I Was Born clocks in at just under the three-minute mark. Straightforward, raw rock ‘n’ roll chock full of pop sensibility and a devil may care nonchalance; this is may be Otherkin-by-numbers but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The band are immediate and likable in the same way that Pavement and The Strokes once were. The song is propelled by a delightfully crunchy riff, and driven by single note guitar licks and a scribbly guitar solo in the song’s middle-eight.

The songs present on ‘The New Vice EP’ are likely to go down a treat with the band’s live following, lead single Yeah, I Know particularly likely to whip a crowd into a frenzy. Lyrically, there is not much to digest, Luke Reilly’s earnest howl serving more so as another instrument providing melody than a vehicle for a profound statement. Any chance for soul searching or social commentary is replaced by ‘yeah’s, ‘oh’s, and ‘woah’s, but Otherkin are all about good time tunes so anything else would seem out of place.

Otherkin are here to start the party and wreck the gaff; bringing decent, raucous tunes with no bells and whistles or pretences about them.  While far from original, Otherkin make a nice racket. The rhythm section is tight and the riffs are catchy. And let’s be honest; sometimes that’s more than enough.