Snayx – ‘Better Days’

Snayx are starting their 2024 with a bang. Or, more accurately, with the raucous, cynical mashup of Kid Kapichi and the Prodigy that we need right now. They’re leaving the haters in their lives in the dust and propelling themselves forward with a nitro boost of confident, vital beats.

Title track and single drop ‘Better Days’ channels that personal moment where you realise you’ve got yourself in a toxic situation. “It’s all about the company you keep,” says vocalist Charlie Herridge. “Sometimes you need to take a step back and ask yourself, ‘Are the people I surround myself with any good for me? Are they worth the investment?’” Snayx’s internal questioning emerges as the slamming, electro-distortion thunderbolt that opens the EP. ‘Sink Or Swim’ could be the next night’s reaction to the realisation that you’re not where you want to be, a tune which transforms that enlightenment into a long night of danced release in a UV-graffiti squat swirling with jumping bodies. There’s a flow throughout all four tracks the lends itself equally to imagined storytelling and punchy setlists.

Snayx may not have set out to summon the spirit of Damon Albarn but ‘King’ is pure Gorillaz, its slice-of-life tone turned into fantasy by jeering eighties synths. Maybe they’re keen to show off a new dimension to their sound, they’ve just been spending time between recording sessions relaxing on a Plastic Beach, but either way it shows that the Brighton-based trio can offer more than vibrant, genre-smashing tunes. As if that wasn’t enough already, they seamlessly drift into the rushing, bass heavy nihilism of ‘Concrete’, bookending this EP with the kind of tunes which are going to worry security staff when they’re played live. 

Aside from how much this EP slams, ‘Better Days’ deserves your attention because it feels like a finished product. There’s no frantic singles thrown online in the hope that something sticks in our minds beyond the urge to start a pit. There’s a clear intention behind this release, a decisive compiling which send out the signal that Snayx are ready to take on the world. They’re already equipped with a sound which lifts them out of the DIY scene, and if any release takes them into the mainstream, it’ll be ‘Better Days’.

KATE ALLVEY