Picture this: what if The Stooges didn’t emerge from 1960s Detroit but instead burst onto the scene from the gritty, subterranean basement clubs of present-day London? Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that Emergency Break is trying to mimic the said legendary band. They might not even be aware of how they’re tapping into the same fiery spirit. But tap into it, they most certainly do. There’s a certain swagger, an urgent energy, and in the case of their latest single, “Pyro,” there’s that brilliant, cascading force formed by the interplay of the bass line and the guitar riffs, channelling a similar dose of menace and foreboding.
Though Emergency Break probably draws more from more recent bands, the likes of The Fratellis, The Libertines, and, by extension, The Dirty Pretty Things for their sound, it resonates with the ethos of the underground and the outcasts of garage-land who’ve lingered on the fringes of acceptability since the invention of the electric guitar… and maybe even the invention of the garage itself. It’s rough-edged, pulsating with vitality, infectious, and just a tad rebellious. Isn’t that precisely what you crave from rock and indie music? I know I do.
This right here is the sound of those renegades storming the barricades to reclaim their rightful spot in the musical pantheon, and “Pyro” serves as nothing less than their rallying cry, stirring the rabble and inciting the uprising.
