Channeling the spirit and aesthetic of Liam Lynch’s terrific punk anthem United States of Whatever, Outside Your House rattles along on the fizz and crackle of a wonderful energy.
A (deliberately) slightly unhinged and breathless vocal takes you by the hand and guides you through a fizzy mix of popping drums and wonderfully loose guitar riffing – which dares you to dig your heels in and stop to take stock. Why would you, when there are these dayglo colours in the world?
It’s tempting to compare this with The White Stripes, as guitar and drums are so to the fore, along with the stabs and cowbell, but the gang vocals and tempo shifts and the pantomime falsetto shriek of ‘I’m outside YOUR HOUSE!’ all come together to create something very much Social Distance usla’s own.
I’m drawn to one word here: fun. And that’s something that so many people don’t focus on these days. You wanna shock me with your ray gun? Go on, then! Love it. It’s hard not to listen with a smile on your face.
Of course, behind the bluster and the swagger and the sass is the fact that putting tempo changes into a track is a nightmare that a lot of musicians avoid like the plague, as it’s so hard to pull off convincingly. It’s been done tremendously here – all credit to them.
The mix is a little muddy, as befits the genre, but I like it – it feels retro, knowing and modern all at once, and the hooks are all very much in place. Strap yourselves in!
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