Adelaide natives The Battery Kids inhabit the darkly dramatic space pioneered by garage punk bands like The Cramps and The Meteors. These influences bubbled at the surface of band’s 2010 debut We’re Just Hanging While The Rats All Gather And The Vultures Circle Overhead, but with the release of their new EP Only Human, the group have taken an assured step forward in developing their own sound.
“Fuck Me Like A Stranger” is evidence of this newfound confidence; more in-your-face innuendo than subtle double-entendre, it’s a fabulously catchy track and an obvious choice for the band’s latest single.
On “Times Are Tough (But So Are We)” the band’s new straight-up rock sound is put to good use. With its jolting guitars and a creeping organ riff, it’s a powerful track that no doubt translates into a crashing epic on stage.
Bubbling drumbeats abound on the ghostly “She’s Only Human”, but the impact is dulled by “Boney Hands”, which is essentially a less-inspired incarnation of the previous track. Likewise, up-tempo “All My Friends” and the barroom ballad “Hangover Blues” are substantial enough songs, but they can’t quite maintain the EP’s earlier energy.
A cover of Tom Wait’s simultaneously sinister yet sprightly track “God’s Away On Business” rounds out the EP, delivered with not quite enough of the intensity of the original for this version to really make its mark.
Inconsistent in parts, The Battery Kids’ latest EP nevertheless contains a couple of camp garage rock gems and leaves the band poised to deliver a strong sophomore release.
