Archy Marshall also known by his stage name King Krule is a 29 year old musician, singer/songwriter, rapper & producer from London, England, United Kingdom introducing himself in 2011 off the strength of an eponymous EP inspired by singer/songwriter, bedroom pop, art pop & neo-psychedelia. XL Recordings caught on to it, signing him & putting out his full-length debut 6 Feet Beneath the Moon primarily basing itself around singer/songwriter, art rock & indie rock. His 2015 sophomore effort A New Place 2 Drown released on my 19th birthday had more of an experimentally abstract hip hop vibe than his previous work, The Ooz made a lot of people including myself into fans returning, Man Alive! incorporated more neo-psychedelic post-punk influences & Space Heavy swapped the post-punk elements out in favor of slowcore. But preparation for his 6th album, Archy’s following up Hey World! by releasing his 3rd EP.
“Achtung!” starts by mixing gothic rock, neo-psychedelia, dream pop & post-punk refusing to turn back whereas “Time for Slurp” leans heavier towards post-punk with additional elements of goth rock & deathrock apologizing for his bad communication. “Whaleshark” crosses over bedroom pop, singer/songwriter, bossa nova, lounge & jazz-rock singing about waiting for his lover all day & all night that is until “It’s All Soup Now” ends the EP pulling from a slacker rock, slowcore, jazz-rock & post-punk reflecting on the complexities & absurdities of life. The bonus track “Flimsier” fuses neo-psychedelia, slowcore, slacker rocker & post-rock overwhelmed by the weight of the world on our shoulders.
SHHHHHHH! is pretty much an official collection of all the exclusive singles that Archy had put out 15 months ago when he was on tour, so for him to actually make an entire EP out of it & give these songs more exposure for any of his fans who have yet to hear them is amazing when you think about the consistency of his discography in the last dozen years or so. He has constantly proven himself as a man of many talents further exemplified by the collection of post-punk, neo-psychedelia, art rock, jazz-rock, singer/songwriter, slacker rock, slowcore, lounge, bossa nova, bedroom pop, goth rock, deathrock & dream pop tracks to start the summer.
Score: 4/5
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