Album Review

Holly Walker – Bedroom Bangers EP

• 7th Jun 2012

With the first deftly delivered line, Holly Walker pricks my interest.

‘I see why you don’t go out, it’s the internet isn’t it’

So this is the introduction to the Modern World as Holly sees it, an ominous piano punctuates her diatribe as she describes the ‘sick voyeurism’ and our unhealthy obsession with all things online.

And even when the track merrily gives way into a bouncing bundle of musical joy, a vitriol, no matter how playful, still guides the song down the path of cynical social commentary, where the Internet is a tool to be used by musical artists, where just being a musical artist isn’t enough, heaping her frustrations into the chorus that she will have to ‘start up a goddamn blog’.

It is Holly Walker’s unique word play that is ever present across this 4 track EP that is a true thrill, forget recent fascinations with Florence Welch and cast your mind back to the reign of Lily Allen and Kate Nash, and no disrespect to them, but now just imagine that they were smarter…

Her Bedroom Bangers EP, from the title alone suggests a homemade quality to the music, and the minimal production and lo-fi drum machines follow this notion, and you could almost imagine these ditties being scribbled into a notebook tucked under the bed, waiting to be discovered.

But thankfully she hasn’t kept these hidden away, whether it is the mischievous ode to a good friend in Penelope, or the dalliance with social anarchy in Panic Breeds Panic, the diversity of subjects skillfully touched on are sure to impress.

And almost like a companion piece to Modern World, the likening of tacky pop music to addictions and forbidden carnal cravings in Sterile Facile reveals the inner turmoil of a ‘real’ artist willing to throw herself beneath the wheels of mainstream music’s juggernaut, just for the recognition.

I just hope that Holly Walker continues to deliver such relatable, such relevant and such profound smash hits, even if this industry chews her up and spits her out.

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