LBK + 80 – Handle or Die – EP review
LBK + 80 is the electro-indie duo of Lil Brown Kid and Adrienne Weaver - better known as 80 from Los Angeles in the USA and they have a new five track release coming out imminently called Handle Or Die.
LBK + 80 – Handle or Die
The sixteen and a half minute long EP, Handle Or Die, opens with The Red Queen which has something of a reggae reference to it as the vocal reflects on stolen dreams and ambitions with the distinctive chorus. The lyrical context is neatly wrapped inside the track as the listener is left to ponder who is the murderer?
Next up comes Mr. Officer which musically reverts to ’80s alt-pop whilst once again the lyric whizzes around in a spiral of conflict. This is a sheer joy, not for its musical prowess, but for the tongue in cheek humour of the two polar opposites parts of the composition coming together so neatly.
The Pusha Game is next and once again the duo combine two distinctive story-lines. Whilst theoretically there should be little to keep me with these two as the music has a shiny plastic texture, it is the way that they are able to inject cynicism without apparently breaking the mood that ensures I will be playing this EP regularly.
The penultimate track by LBK + 80 is Chain Gang which has a far stronger musical element and is well worth the price of the EP on its own continues the theme of the rest of Handle Or Die.
The concluding track - Fire At Will is my pick of the release and an absolute gem of a song.
These two have much to offer as they are able to stick up two fingers whilst sounding cheerful doing it and the lyrics written continually in the first person demand the audience get their thinking caps on as well as their dancing shoes, as the lyrics far from being arrogant fluff and nonsense are in fact words from the perspective of the very ones they are taking the rip out of.
The duo make for an interesting combination and the dichotomy between the dance beat music and the lyrical rage makes for Handle Or Die as being an EP well worth getting hold of.
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