EP REVIEW: BE N!CE – Where Am I? (self-released)
BE N!CE are a four-piece band from London who are bringing something new and different to the alternative music scene.
Formed in 2022, they blend punk with post-punk, hardcore, riot grrrl, grunge and alternative metal influences, which makes for a compelling listen.
Pol Mills (vocals), Emily Harris (bass), Alex McIntosh (drums) and Brett Lee (guitar) have gigged hard around the south east, supporting the likes of Cherym, Pussyliquor and The SoapGirls.
They spent last year drip-feeding a succession of digital singles into the world, and have now gathered all five together, added a new track, and unleashed their first physical release – and what a release!
It opens with the new track, Get A Job, a takedown of traditional American values with a real gothic feel. Powered by a huge fuzzy riff and thunderous drums, it’s a compelling listen as Pol insists: “We do not celebrate Satan’s Day.”
Bedtime comes from the viewpoint of someone who’s mentally and physically exhausted. It’s an altogether funkier song, which breaks into raging punk rock in the chorus as Pol screams: “I just wanna sleep/I just wanna sleep/Fuck off please leave me alone/I just want to sleep!” We’ve all been there, I think.
An urgent guitar riff and regular changes in pace, ranging from spoken word to blazing hardcore, punctuate One Bad Apple, a patriarchy-bashing anthem about male privilege, and Witch Hunt attacks transphobes who play the victim while trying to take people’s rights away.
Living a life wracked by paranoid thoughts is the topic of Blow (Paranoia, Baby!), but the closing Cambridge is the best song here, and easily the most disturbing. It’s about being so fed up with the mundanity of the everyday 9-5 that you feel like ending it all in front of all your colleagues.
It’s powerful, thought-provoking stuff as Pol screams: “I’m gonna go to the office/And kill myself/In front of everyone.”
These songs are full of social commentary, lots of rage, big dollops of dark humour and the occasional dash of absurdity. I can’t wait for BE N!CE to get round to making a full-length album.
- You can get Be N!ce’s debut EP Where Am I? from their Bandcamp page HERE.
