suplex the kid

SCOTS noise merchants Mogwai and Errors have shown that you don’t always need a singer to have a great rock band. Four piece Suplex The Kid from Glasgow can be added to this voxless bunch. Starting with a wall of ripped up guitars on A Rise and Fall of a Hero the Glasgow band map out the song title as a hopefilled guitar soars and a tribal beat reaches further until they break off at two minutes turning the tune into something more contemplative before pushing off again and swirling into over eight minutes of locked on post rock, leaving you breathless. Escape The City has the epic soundscape of The Verve as Suplex The Kid show a canny knack of creating images and feelings without the use of words. It’s About Time You Changed adds some crunching hard rock guitars to a jangly Postcard Records riff as they do again on The Cure-like icy blast of Sol A Una Tormenta. It’s hard to keep someone’s attention without a singer but Suplex The Kid make it seem effortless.
They play Nice N Sleazys, Glasgow on June 17, Solas Festival, Biggar on June 25
- Daily Record Scottish Newspaper

Having already heard Suplex the Kid’s first single, ‘All Beneath An Iron Sky’, I went in search of downloading their first full length release through rebels Monograph Records. It’s a legitimately free download, go check it out.

Listening to the album, they’ve grown a little more comfortable in their own skin since the release of their single. There are cheeky little question answers between the band and a whimpy sounding guitar in the opening track, ‘A Rise And Fall Of A Hero’. This bravado continues into the album where the band aren’t scared to confront the scrolling wall of sound that was gently harnessed last time round. While the band are still taking you on a trip with their music, they’re not insisting on holding hands anymore. They’re a rougher, darker, almost violent undertone present. There’s a real urgency to the album, a sense of danger.

Half way in, dualing guitars on ‘We Heard The Shots From Your House’ mimic the sound of sirens while later on in the track there are ghoulish sounds made from guitar harmonics – it’s truly harrowing stuff. The last few minutes have a drone that sounds like a heart monitor gone flat – the constant dull buzz of death. The album cover finally makes sense. It’s not an album about innocence and fun – a child playing in a flood – it’s about celebrating life through death. The last part of the album neatly caps off what came before it. Re-inforcing the theme and never letting the listener rest.

Whilst I enjoyed the album, I can’t help but think it’s a little on the heavy side. The delicacy that I loved about their single was almost extinguished this time round. Saying that, I still think this is a powerful LP, and that with such a simple idea consisting of music and one image – it’s made me ponder life and death a bit more and is sure to stay in my head for more than a few days afterwards. I’m almost scared to give it another listen now. This is a nightmarish, thought-provoking record that I’d recommend others listen to. For an artist, I can’t imagine a better compliment than that.

Rating 10/10
- Ark Magazine

Recorded with the ambitious Monograph Records label, who try to bring music to fans for free, I was excited to hear what would be my first exposure to the experimental project. I loaded the song, available for free download, and hit play.

I was greeted by drums initially in the almost 7 minute track. Cascading guitars rise wave after wave, crest upon crest – creating an overwhelming feeling that keeps the listener fairly grounded until 1.45 when a guitar that’s playing like it’s being caressed by an angel. The delicacy runs its course until the 3 minute mark where the song assaults the listener with the rhythm section truly coming into focus.

Arguably the songs chorus comes at 3.40 when we get what could easily be a crowd chant or gang vocals in another genre. Then the song tones down, giving the audience and themselves a chance to play the tug of war with tension once again. At 5 minutes, they start again with the heavy crunching distortion which almost takes inspiration from stoner metal aside from the guitar tones. There’s a swagger and definite rhythm to dance to signing them off. Fans are treated to a great rollercoaster of a song. They’re post-rock gorgeousness.

9/10
- Ark Magazine

Inspired by the elements as much as by modern music SuplexTheKid are an enigmatic proposition. Apparently named after an ingenious wrestling move their music sneaks up and traps you with similar efficiency. The phrase from a “whisper to a roar” goes some of the way to describing their shifts from chiming crystalline guitar motifs to face melting howls of primal feedback. This spacious and echoing music is vocal less and none the worse for it.

Their bio cites Explosions in the Sky as their favourite band and the influences are apparent. However this does not do full justice to the range of sonic assaults aimed at the listener. At times the music is challenging, such as on 'It's About Time You Changed', but this is time well invested in this reviewer’s opinion.

Whilst I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone of a sensitive disposition, or recovering from open heart surgery, I would strongly recommend this soundscape album to fans of Mogwai and the lengthy guitar climax. Although only a very small Indie release they are apparently recording their follow up album already so it may only be a matter of time before you have been Suplexed too.

- Fake DIY Records