Cairo Knife Fight appear to be on a mission and - whatever it is - they are going there quick. In a scant three years they have released an album (2009’s Iron) and, now, the second of two EPs. It is called ‘II’. The name is a blunt solution to something so trivial as what to call it. Greater things than that are clearly afoot and the new EP will attest to that.
The first song ‘The Violence of Action’ starts things on a high note; a long jam that burns like (what people used to call) ‘desert rock’. There is loud, hard rock for certain but there is also psychedelic mystique and it goes on for eight and a half minutes. That is long time for a rock song these days, far too long for a Top 40 station’s playlist. It’s a ballsy move but the song is so compelling that you can call it a good one too. The rolling, bombastic choruses are sure to get many a crowd moving.
‘The Origin of the Slaves’ doesn’t look to shabby either. A wonderfully scrappy riff lurches over the clanking drums, before the song kicks off proper with its heavy bass and abstract beat. The whole thing is quite reminiscent of Weta’s Geographica album. The track is strong, stadium-ready and makes full use of Nick Gaffaney’s manly falsetto. Just as we had ventured towards the realm of conventional rock’n’roll along comes ‘The Opiate of the Living’. It is what I guess passes for a ballad to these mad gentlemen. Booming tribal drums weave amidst back-masked guitar atmospherics and another powerhouse performance from Gaffaney.
Lastly is ‘The Secrets of Sin’, another of the peppy-riff rock variety. Even still, those riffs are pretty knotted and wonderfully down-tuned. It is a high-octane number that manages to howl out its own name before falling into a landslide of an outro. It is of no surprise that they opened for Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of the Stone Age with the comparisons being notable but not overwhelming. ‘II’s strength is that it tries a few different things and does them well without being overly complicated about it. The songs are never clouded by anybody being too precious or clever. The two “jammier” tracks are convincing and warrant their ambitious length and the rock numbers bite hard. Cairo Knife Fight appear to be on a mission and ‘II’ is just another clue about what that mission is.
