From the opening bars of Skymonk’s self titled EP, a confident wash of smoky blues tinged indie rock launches itself forward, paving the way for ten minutes of solid tunes.
Listen – http://skymonk.bandcamp.com
Opener ‘Stop Looking At Me’ manages to set the bar high, with a sultry, hazy rock riff that perfectly underpins the track’s repeated refrain, “Stop looking at me that way”. Lyrically there’s the air of someone wanting to be left alone in the song’s narrative, and yet the music itself comes off as self assured, not really concerned about how you look at it either way. ‘So Low’ is deliciously crunchy and distorted, almost Stones-esque like something off R.E.M’s raucous rock and roll record, the mighty Monster. The track itself is perfectly balanced, with emotive vocals, rich guitars and solos to be found in just the right places. Skymonk’s EP comes to its all too soon conclusion with ‘Matchless’, a track that incorporates eastern tones and scales, blending with the indie aesthetic to create a curious tension that makes the music stand out as imaginative and prepared to try new things, pushing back against standard mainstream methods while remaining entirely accessible at the same time.
http://facebook.com/skymonkband
By Chris Marsh
