EP Review: Bottlekids – Self Titled

Bottlekids name and the fact that there’s a track called “Smokes, Let’s Go” indicates that the Bottlekids are serious fans of everyone’s favourite dysfunctional criminal stoners “The Trailer Park Boys“, this is coupled with a serious transatlantic punk rock soundtrack that simultaneously carries echoes of the likes of The Methadones, The Copyrights and Teenage Bottlerocket and elements of the UK’s alternative scene of the 90’s. Bottlekids are clearly have a band that know what they love and love what they do, and that is what comes across in the four tracks on this EP. 

“25 Days” kicks things off with a perfect two minutes that somehow manages to simultaneously recall all your favourite bands, the Bottlekids debut EP rolls on with the aforementioned “Smokes, Lets Go” before you hit “Dark Times“, a song that brings the pace down a notch, but ups the intensity. As is often the case, the best is saved for last, “The Wayside” is a serious rocker that smacks you right between the eyes and before you’ve recovered it’s suddenly over, and you find yourself punch drunk and wanting another hit.

The Bottlekids debut EP carrie so many familiar elements that it constantly throws you, when writing this the potential list of bands that moments reminded me of would have been extensive to say the least, but that’s not to say the Bottlekids are derivitive or unoriginal, it’s just clear that their tastes are spread so far and wide that it’s impossible to pin them down as each song provides fleeting glimpses of different aspects of their collective influences. The Bottlekids have released an impressive debut EP that acts as a taster of a band that I hope to hear much more from in the coming months and years.

The Bottlekids EP can be streamed via digital service providers and purchased on digital and vinyl formats here

Bottlekids can be found on Facebook and Instagram