S!S!SN remind me of Refused meets Minus The Bear – they have the subtleties of the latter and the heavier parts of the former. They’re not quite as good as either of those bands, but this EP has an intelligent stab at it, peaking during the fantastic ‘Einstein I Ain’t’ which erupts midway through into a spastic screamathon, bludgeoning bass riffs and smashing cymbals. It sounds much better than that description anyway! At 5 tracks and 35 minuts it’s possibly a little too stretched out and a more refined band would certainly gain an extra half star, but you have to admire the band’s scope and this record is adventurous. Most of the time it works too – this record is certainly more ambitious, and successful, than any of their previous work.
The opening track is a really frenetic and emotional beast, but then the EP mixes things up well so each song has a lot of mini parts. The aforementioned ‘Einstein…’ is like seven songs in one, which is good and bad, depending on how you like to consume your music. ‘Animals…’ is an explosive and intense listen and, on the whole, is enjoyable. In a time when too many bands try and do the disposable pop thing it’s good to hear bands with a bit of substance. Nice work.