Nasty at Nine = Yes it is always Politics

I have a pre-release copy of the January 9 o'clock Nasty EP POLITIC, and before taking my leave of the lovely country of England to return to the embrace of family for a few weeks of sanity without music, I wanted to set down my thoughts. I know they will quote me in their press release. I did write a review of their Christmas EP but I feel so angry about the disaster that was Sexy Back that I held it from being put onto the website. So in a way this is a first attempt to decide whether they have got back onto track after waving their arses at Justin Timberlake.

Disclosure - the band are my friends and visit me regularly, I probably overcompensate by being hard on them.

Politic is the first 9 o'clock Nasty EP that feels like it has a theme running through it. It feels political. Three songs more or less about one thing. That is already a good start. They are a band with butterfly minds and desperately short attention spans. For them to gather together three pieces that are totally different musically but very much a collection that works together is progress.

But is it good?

KING THING is the opening track, and obviously the A side. King of Hackney on their first EP was probably the least promoted, quirkiest and also the best song. If that was the caterpillar, King Thing is the squawking, wart-ridden vulture that burst from the chrysallis. It opens with violence. None of the quirky, tight small band from Leicester sensibility. This sounds like a statement of intent. Sydd is I know a huge Led Zep fan and his drumming on this is just immense - but instead of a traditional rock performance he gives us a tight driving loop. King Thing is by some distance the best 9 o'clock Nasty song they have released. There is a confidence about it. It lurks, prowls. Guitar parts fizz into view and then wait in the shadows. The bass drives and drives on the edge of distortion, and the lyrics seem to be actually trying to say something rather than score points. "King of Leicester love me truly. Love me much but love me cruelly." Indeed. It is hard when you are more loved in Brazil than your home city.

Comparisons are difficult. King Thing has the sonic landscape of heavy metal and hip hop, but delivers something that is more grunge or indie than either of them. It is a classic and it will win them many new listeners. And I was the first to review it.

GET INTO THEM PART 1 is a collaboration with some Bhangra musicians that "Ted met down the pub." Ted meets some strange people in pubs, mostly because of his awful dress sense and inability to apply make up. People feel at once both a need to give comfort, but also a deep atavistic fear that this thing they are in the presence of could ping off in a different and entirely more dangerous direction at any given moment.

The song is not my music. Intricate but carefully constructed drum and synth loops unwind and combine and the song gradually builds. This is a political song. It probably should be banned as essentially it is inciting the listener to rise up and do harm to those that oppress them. It may be the song of the revolution that will never happen except through the world of memes and dance-clips.

GET INTO THEM PART 2 takes exactly the same lyric and applies it to a lush pop piece. Acoustic guitars strum, there is rattle of fun and the pop song kicks into gear. This is sublime commercial pop music about fucking up the over-class. Bands just don't make this kind of politically charged ear worm fodder anymore.

I understand that Get Into Them is originally based on a football chant. I am not a Sport Boy, I do not know.

So in summary.

I divorced 9 o'clock Nasty because I loved them and they let me down. Now they have given me a record I can play and play and push the volume to 11. My impatience with them has always been from frustration at their wilful desire to defeat expectations, sometimes at the cost of delivering quality product. 

If Politic is a sample of the kind of music that will be released on the indie scene in 2022, we are in a very good place indeed.

Dark Strudel is going on holiday now. Have a good Christmas. Bands please don't stop sending me those mp3s but I do strongly prefer cassette tapes or CDs. In 2022 I am persuaded to start a social media account and promote the work more, so perhaps I shall have more readers.

As my sister always says, Ich hab’ dich lieb.