REVIEW: Kill 'em Mister - Wolves Horses

Kill ‘em Mister could be considered as somewhat of a side-project. Comprising of boy-wonder-guitarist Mathias Janmaat (Bombay Show Pig), producer/bassist Joost de Glopper (producer of Houses a.o.), guitarist Richard van Rooijen (ex-GOTV) and British singer/MC Lenka Boyd, it’s the type of act you’ll see popping up every now and again to thrash a party here and there. Most of the time, this leads to acts who are either annoyingly jammy or barely disguised tributes-to-times-past. You would expect nothing of the above considering Janmaat’s profile, who’s rise to prominence has been all about cutting edge musicmaking, both sonically and conceptually.





Truth is, Kill ‘em Mister sound nothing like a side-project. Their first EP Wolves Horses is a fairly ambitious project, fusing Sleigh Bells’ high-gain guitars, MIA’s vocal delivery and Skrillex’ dubstep mayhem into something decidedly high-octane. But it’s not the initial kick-in-the-face that sets these 5 tracks apart. It’s the playful musicality underneath that’s most compelling. Opener Bad Luck is electronic rockstomp, but is aptly counterpointed by the arpeggiated synths and falsetto chorus. Scarlet Fever is built around a surprisingly catchy synthriff, the kind you rarely come across in recent dubstep anthems. For Bombay Show Pig fans they’ll sound familiar enough, but in this context all the more refreshing. Same goes for Female Killer Robot, which is closest thing to the type of ravepunk one would expect from The Prodigy or T.Raumschmiere. It’s nothing new, but it’s enough to get a raunchy indierave going, favorably in some smelly basement.



Come to think of it, if Kill ‘em Mister would in fact be a tribute act, it would probably be to rave music throughout the last 20 years. Luckily Wolves Horses is not pretending to be an anachronistic overview of rave music compiled into 17 minutes and 50 seconds. It’s just a bunch of songs these incredibly talented musicians have had a lot of fun messing with in their free time. And it shows! Not all of it is great - Rogue Leader is way less compelling than the other tracks for lack of a good hook and bland vocal performance. But on the whole, being able to score 4 out of 5 on first attempt is well above average for any act. It definitely legitimises Kill ‘em Mister as an act to watch in its own right. Let’s hope they won’t spend too much time in hibernation.