The Transistors' second release, Flux Pentaphile, is just as fast and loud as their debut album, but beneath the racket of the distorted guitars and crashing cymbals these songs more accurately capture the pop aesthetic they are going for.
James Harding’s opening riff on Details is very reminiscent of Mission of Burma – it rips the song apart before Colin Roxburgh's bass brings it back together, setting the tone for the rest of the EP. The title track is an hilarious ode to Rangiora High School, where these three first began playing music together as bored teenagers. The lyrics are a collection of catchphrases borrowed from former classmates. “The key is in the closet/ not all locks are faulty/ stand aside I'll show you/ crosswords are my specialty,” drummer Ollie Crawford-Ellis screeches in the breakdown. It's this ability to make fun of themselves that sets them apart from a plethora of other musicians who continually take themselves too seriously.
Reception to Porter is the stand-out track on the EP. Again it's Harding's guitar that makes the song memorable; the two-chord simplicity and 1960s guitar fuzz is as much The Seeds as it is The 13th Floor Elevators. The lyrics are repetitively catchy and Crawford-Ellis' more polished vocals bring a harmonising aspect.
Bob Frisbee's production perfectly captures the unhinged nature of The Transistors' live performance, allowing you to feel as though you are watching Harding pogo and Roxburgh jerk back and forth in time with the music. The more thoughtful approach to the song arrangements also makes it sound as if Frisbee has had a hand in their construction.
The Transistors’ song writing is becoming something to behold. If this EP and their new live set is anything to go by, their second album is likely to be something spectacular.
