Review by Keaton McSweeney

Local lords of darkness Like Junk are proving harder and harder to categorise with every new release. One minute its lo fi piano pop, the next its droning guitarscapes and post-punk and now they give us the cryptically titled ‘The Snyth and Agabago’ – a loud, unnerving, yet comparatively polished and well produced three track EP which is virtually free of the bedroom melancholia they’ve dabbled with in the past.

On this release, the tortured vocals of pianist Scott White and drummer Anetta Nevin are pushed high in the mix and a grinding, distorted guitar tone is present throughout. However, what seems to tie it all together is the overall mood that Like Junk have managed to maintain regardless of the genre they’re working in. And this release has it in spades. From the opening stomp of ‘The Snyth’, the music conjures up the dark, confused mind of a malcontent struggling against a world he is barely able to comprehend. This becomes especially apparent in the seamless transition between the opening track and the Karnivalesque ‘Agabago’, where White repeatedly intones “He was a solitary man” before once again spiralling into a mess of screams and whistles.

The noisy but otherwise unremarkable guitar thrash of ‘The Host’ closes out the EP, resulting in what is probably their most accessible work to date. Another commendable effort from this local three piece.