The new Nixer EP release I hit the town and the town hit me back is out now on digital and vinyl and sees the duo add in some pop sensibility to their punky synth wave
EP: I hit the town and the town hit me back
Band: Nixer
Released: May 15 2024
Nixer are South East London/New York City duo Seán Keenan and Simon Gardner, and together they have crafted a seven track collection of synth wave/electro pop tracks which comprise the project's second EP I hit the town and the town hit me back.
It's a strange phenomenon that many lovers of 'guitar music' or 'indie music' profess a dislike or disdain for 'dance' music. Even Steve Albini weighed in with his infamous email to Powell: "I've always detested mechanized dance music, its stupid simplicity, the clubs where it was played, the people who went to those clubs, the drugs they took, the shit they liked to talk about, the clothes they wore, the battles they fought amongst each other..."
Strange because you might say to such a person "do you like Heaven 17, New Order, The Psychedelic Furs or Bauhaus" (indie stalwarts all) and they'd happily reply in the affirmative. And in I hit the town and the town hit me back you can hear (well I can) musical DNA strands of all those bands as well as electro/electronic acts from Afrika Bambaataa, Farley 'Jackmaster' Funk, The Human League, Pet Shop Boys right up to Molchat Doma, Lebanon Handover and Boy Harsher.
... the Nixer sound continues to develop based on what Keenan calls the 3 E's - electronic, energetic, evolving. Folks if you ain't realised it yet, this EP not only has the 3 E's but also the 3 C's - clubby, clever and contagious.
Like all great artists, what Seán does so authentically is add his own personality to the mix; post punk touches and vocal touches to the witches brew of Simon's electronic beats. Also Keenan writes all the lyrics - the lived experience of an Irishman living in London adds an extra dimension to his tales of lust, love, paranoia, nightlife, loneliness, addiction, and finding euphoria and empathy in art.
The semi conversational style of opener Hit the Town is like a narrator setting the scene for what's to come. It also showcases the expanded range of sounds and production touches compared to the previous People Feel EP. Sandwiched in between this and the thematically linked, Depeche Mode referencing Hit Me Back which closes the EP, are five tracks of giddy electro synth wave with pop sensibilities. As Keenan elaborates " ... the Nixer sound continues to develop based on what I call the 3 E's - electronic, energetic, evolving."
In a similar way to the aftermath of a big night out, when indeed the town has Hit Me Back, there's a great deal to process. The experience will leave you wondering what just hit you and why you feel like a different, better person for it.
Second Hand hits the trademark fizzbomb bpm and the buzzy acid synths fire the electronic synapses. The descending guitar riff which kicks in around the 40 second mark is a great touch and sounds like it could have come from a 80s track by Bauhaus or Killing Joke.
Voices starts out like a stark, sparse Cure track before developing into a poppy banger. The Book is an exemplar of their evolution as they add in some gorgeously creamy 90s trance sounds to the hands-aloft dancefloor theme.
Saccharine Smile is probably the clubbiest track on the EP with its memorable synth darts and vocal hooks (seven crucial ounces ... you'll be wearing it all night) yet still manages to include a guitar line worthy of The Killers. Folks if you ain't realised it yet, this EP not only has the 3 E's but also the 3 C's - clubby, clever and contagious.
If there is a quintessential Nixer track, Fast One may be it. Fusing prose with a modern post punk beat, it reflects Seán's lyrical concerns as it uncovers the darker side of mobile phones, nightlife, and how these two entangle and confuse our real-life relationships with online personalities we are forced to invent for ourselves.
In a similar way to the aftermath of a big night out, when indeed the town has Hit Me Back, there's a great deal to process. The experience will leave you wondering what just hit you and why you feel like a different, better person for it.
I hit the town and the town hit me back was recorded, produced and mixed in a bedroom in London, Drogheda, LA, and New York City by Seán Keenan & Simon Gardner. Mastered by Rude 66 in California. Artwork and photography by Nicholas O'Donnell and Louis Blenkinsop.
The EP is on all streaming platforms and available to buy now on gorgeous transparent yellow vinyl.
There is also an offer which nets you the new Nixer vinyl EP AND the previous EP People Feel on black vinyl AND a free CD and insert sheet of the album artwork
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