"Aliens" by Nuke The Whales
Review
Another day & another artist making their debut in ‘Hot Music Live': makes for quite a dynamic start to a year doesn't it?
Today it's the turn of Leamington based trio Nuke The Whales who purvey "anti-capitalist pop punk and songs about your Nan" and who are "fuelled by rage, anxiety, and decaf coffee".
The focus is their most recent release, "Aliens" and since your Nan doesn't seem to feature, it's a fair bet that their target this time out is the former.
It's another one of those "why oh why did I not write about this bunch earlier" type moments as I was hooked long before the end of the track on my first play…. I think you will be too.
It's an objective look at the dreadful state of our world from an external perspective (which needs saying of course) but it's so much more than that.
"Aliens" fits into a noble (local) tradition of catchy punk songs with outer space motifs. Based in the town whose first punk group The Shapes gave us "Let's Go (To Planet Skaro)" in 1980 (an alternative take of which adorns the very first volume of ‘Hot Music Live Presents'): I wonder if a nod is intended here?
From further afield, fans of The Rezillos will also see kindred spirits and just to emphasise that this is not an exercise in pure nostalgia, the sound indicates that lessons have been learned from bands since then such as Green Day: not least that if you take the trouble to write good lyrics, making sure people hear them is in your interests. The first generation punks often felt that being partially indecipherable had advantages in excluding those for whose ears they were not meant: but this is more inclusive and as a polemic makes its point properly.
Above all it's incredibly catchy: if you want to hook someone and try and convince them of an idea, this is a very good way of doing it. I suspect I did actually agree with them beforehand but that in no way reduces my enjoyment of "Aliens". In fact when I've posted this, I may just play it again. I'm hooked.
I'm betting that on this evidence they are great live too. Their next gig seems to be at the LTB (Priory Visitor Centre) in Coventry on January 30th alongside las vedas (whom we mentioned only the other day), Mesch and Huffing.
