DRAGON WELDING – The Naughty Step

In terms of musical invention, Dragon Welding’s self titled debut from 2019 was a very interesting record. The duo mixed genres with glee: ‘The Builders’ hit the audience with a huge post-punk riff; ‘One Miserable Summer’ flaunted a lo-fi indie sound; ‘Join The Dots’ took the rock-centric core and applied that to a fuzzy backdrop that sounded like a Queens of The Stone Age cast off, and ‘Lament For Common Sense’ closed everything with a seven minute experimental drone owing a little more to Krautrock. Not that any of this prepared their audience for the sonic experiments that would follow. 2021’s completely instrumental ‘Lights Behind The Eyes’ took in elements of post-rock (‘Liquid’), the intricacies of California Guitar Trio (the brilliant title track) and even something that sounded like Mike Oldfield in a very bad mood (‘On’).

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Watch: ‘Stoneman’ – a brand new video from KOYO

KOYO’s third album, ‘Onism’, (released November 1st) saw the experimental band evolving. The featured material captured many of the complexities of past works, but by introducing a heavier edge in places, the band’s alternative sound embraced more of a post-rock aesthetic. Despite the confident changes and the fact that bits of the material drew from a huge pool of influences, the record proved that KOYO were keen to forge their own musical path.

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KOYO – Onism

As a band, KOYO have always been purveyors of interesting rock music, but trying to pin an easy identity on their sound is a thankless task. On their 2017 debut, they jumped between styles, somewhat gleefully, with the semi-psychedelic ‘Lost In The Kingdom’ playing like a lost Jane’s Addiction track overlaid by bleeping new wave keys, ‘Now I Understand’ sounding a bit like a Charlatans deep cut, and ‘Tetrachromat, Pts. 1 & 2’ dipping its toes into a world of contemporary sounding prog, where a complex arrangement was joined by Hawkwind-esque sax work, creating a trippy feel, augmented by a melodic metal undertone. Their 2020 release (‘You Said It’) saw them experimenting with shorter songs and a punchier sound, but for those willing to invest the time, the best songs still conveyed a sense of adventure, with the title cut blending modern indie sounds and a pinch of post rock crunch. Better yet, the album standout ‘Obelisk’ worked a huge art rock sound, where jerky rhythms collided with huge metallic riffs and trippier passages reminded listeners that the band who’d shared ‘Lost In The Kingdom’ just a few years earlier were still there…somewhere.

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