Pleasure Island - Help Me NHS We are almost one month away from saying ‘ta-ra’ to a very challenging year. Twenty-twenty will remain embedded, in our minds, for many decades and the effects of such will stay with us for a while. It is important that we continue all efforts made to check in on our friends and loved ones. Music is something that connects and brings us altogether. And despite the lockdown, I’m amazed by all the music coming out despite restriction. We can now add dynamic duo, Pleasure Island, to the list of artists making great music throughout the pandemic.
Pleasure Islands’s new single, ‘Help Me NHS’, kicks off with a big bang. No slow build ups and no samples, this song rolls in fast. Try to imagine We Are Scientists doing their best Stooges impression and you might get a rough idea of what’s going on. Drummer Sam Pierpoint gives off some impressive chops and imaginative rhythms. One is super impressed by Pierpoint’s ability to hammer out the disco hi-hat patterns around Ekins fuzzy and grungy guitar. Pauses and gaps are scattered throughout but they all make sense when the song annexes towards it’s choral hook. Bands such as Futureheads and Maximo Park would go mad for this tasty nugget, but sadly for them, this motif belongs to Pleasure Island.
The B-side is an altogether altered affair. ‘The Game’ stumbles and bumbles about with its Cramps-like guitar and its tom-tom heavy rhythm. The snappy snare holds the beast down whilst Ekins describes a debauched individual struggling to affirm. At its core, this song is a critique of Neil Strauss’s pre-2013 literature, and an attack on sleazy male chauvinism. This notion can be felt in Ekins lyrics, ‘I hate to disappoint you but it’s only a game to me’ and ‘I’d rather be a half-pissed narcissist wailing away’. Kudos should be given to the two-piece for twisting rock ‘n’ roll sideways and placing it on a postmodern mantel. The band bring the monster into the spotlight, for all to see.
Frontman Sean Ekins is someone who is quite clear when expressing areas of the mind. He is also an artist very much concerned about societal attitudes that have gone unchallenged. Thankfully Pleasure Island, like iDLES and Fontaines D.C, are speaking up about serious issues without having to directly retort. Instead they address the issues in a much more proactive way and as such will only go towards improving society as a whole. Musically speaking, this band push their instruments to the limit, filling every gap with a squawk and a scratch. They do this because they have things to say about our world, our culture and our time. Go out there and listen to these guys speak!
Words: Lewis Elliot McWilliam, Images: Band Media
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/PleasureIsland
Youtube: https://youtu.be/8P97jCLd8QA
Youtube: https://youtu.be/VIblHm5C0b0
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