With a pedigree stretching back an impressive 14 years, Auckland based punk legend Coolies seem keen to prove they’ve lost none of the chaos and bluster that they became famous for. As the first offering from the three-piece since 2011’s full-length offering Master, six-track EP Punk is Bread will be a welcome stop-gap for fans ahead of a record slated for release later in the year.
Opening cut, ‘God Take Me’ should immediately allay any fears that the trio have succumbed to the temptations of modern day “faux-fi” recordings. This is the real deal. The four-and-a-half minute fuzz fest is relentlessly busy, offering oscillating bass lines crowded out by perpetually collapsing walls of guitars and founding member Tina Pihema’s urgent vocal refrains.
From here, Punk is Bread ricochets from the avant-garde such as a child’s wailing over an assaulted drum kit on ‘The City’ to the dreamlike and almost pop sensibility of ‘Mother in Mantis’ which employs a lazy drum beat to anchor a floating, clean guitar sound. Record on various media and with various methods (including old fashioned tape and new fashioned iPhones), Punk is Bread is a veritable (if brief) patchwork of textured punk at its most curious.
