Label:
Save Your Wisdom Teeth
Release Date:
15/05/2006

Split singles work best when the sides are complimentary, at the very least share some aesthetic similarities.  Good news here then – both duo Male and trio King Alexander exhibit post-punkah minimalism laced up with brewing black magic.  Male are the cackling witches: two wailing ladies singing “woohoo / woohoowoohoohoo” with little joy and much menace.  A teutonic chill surrounds each little statement; “It’s fish and cheese for dinner” begins to sound like a recipe for a death potion.  Male are razor sharp.  Male have precision.  Male can stab you with words. 

King Alexander take up the reins with 'His Nibs', tempo-swapping and group shouting.  One moment they're proclaiming they are “thrifty and nimble / stealthy and wise”, the next dropping slabs of guitar thunder followed by a bass-line breakdown.  As with Male, a cutting simplicity is the real attraction.  All four tracks could be sneaked right onto a Rough Trade post-punk compilation without any suspicions being aroused.  Even slotted between the Rogers Sisters, the Slits and Wire, these songs would stand their own distinct, serrated ground.