Hailing from London and Milton Keynes, four-piece Next To Nada emerged in their current form in 2020, and have spent the last year building their reputation on the unforgiving London live circuit. Having refined their approach from their more alt-rock origins, the band are now poised to release WHINE // MOTHS, a two-track EP, demonstrating influences ranging from hard rock, punk, and metal, all of which serves to contain the lyrical barbs the band unleash against themselves and the state of the world in general.
Opening track Whine, Lips sets out the band’s stall as unashamed 90s throwbacks, albeit in the best possible way, with a raucous indie-punk sound that harks back to the bands that emerged under the Chemikal Underground banner circa 1997. With elements of Delgados, Urusai Yatsura, pretty much anything on Org Records, and, for a more recent influence, Idles, all shot through the mix, it’s a lively and satisfyingly raw sound the band deploy, shorn of the over-production so often foisted on bands now. It’s followed by the frantic Moths, a seething mess of grungy guitars and angst-laden vocals, that heads down some surprisingly art rock back alleys as it races headlong for the finish. Genuinely exciting, it leaves you wondering exactly where this talented four-piece plan to head next.
It’s easy to get burnt out on press-releases heralding the next big thing because, so often, the attendant music ends up being more of the same. Happily, this is not the case with Next To Nada, who have distilled their influences into something satisfyingly raucous. For listeners of a certain age, there’s a sense of excitement that recalls the heady days of finding some new act in the NME and heading Camden-wards to check it out; for younger fans, it’ll simply be a case of finding something raw that belongs to them. In either case, WHINE // MOTHS is an EP well worth checking out in anticipation of whatever the band do next. 8.5/10
