Diving into ‘For The Kids’, the debut EP from Copenhagen trio Baby In Vain, it’s all too easy to become gripped by the sheer enormity of their ferocious, guitar-led sound.
The scuzzy rock ’n’ roll of Martha’s View kicks off proceedings and, amid the racket, manages to poignantly relate the story of a woman living with Alzheimer's through the repetition of key phrases. “You already lost your fight against time, there’s no way you can rewind,” they sing.
Muscles sees the band indulge their blues influences and is the first taste of the vocal sparring between guitarists Andrea Thuesen and Lola Hammerich, which adds another dynamic to an already broad soundscape.
Worthwhile, written by Thuesen, addresses the added pressure felt as the band’s ambitions began to grow beyond the playful jams of their rehearsal room days. “Worthwhile is about our blossoming success and how blind it made us,” she said. “How imprisoned we felt and how we fought to keep our integrity intact in a world where integrity is a rare phenomenon.”
Baby In Vain have embraced their success, whether it proves to be short-lived or ongoing. “We made it worthwhile,” they declare throughout the track, which descends into a wailing guitar solo. The Urge is a cut that compares the impulse behind infidelity to the desire of a murderer, while further showcasing the vocal harmonies of Thuesen and Hammerich, which create a sugary-sweet counterpoint to the sludge and make for a beautifully sleazy number.
Jesusfreaks goes completely the other way vocally and finds the band more off-kilter as they imagine the murder of Jesus by gangsters, but there is an ease to the execution that further reinforces the fact that they know exactly what they want to say and how they want it to sound. They are comfortable in their collective voice, which throughout packs an impressive punch.
‘For The Kids’ oozes confidence and smacks of a band completely in love with their sound. These five songs, clocking in at 20 minutes, achieve more than many do over the space of an hour with a tracklist that goes into double digits. Roll on the LP.
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