Nixer - ‘I Hit The Town And The Town Hit Back’ Review: A compelling EP, giving us the keys to a dystopian city we call reality
Full of Irish charm and post-punk attitude, Nixer is a ball of energy just waiting to be discovered. I Hit The Town And The Town Hit Back is a compelling EP, giving you enough to fall in love with the music, but leaving a thirst for more.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Credit: Nicholas O’Donnell 📸
It’s been a steady rise since 2020 for Irish electronic post-punk star, Nixer. Following what’s been deemed a creatively prolific 2023, his artistic journey continues with the release of a second EP I Hit The Town and The Town Hit Back.
Released on 15th May 2024, the EP was recorded, produced and mixed in a bedroom in London, Drogheda, LA, and New York City by Seán Keenen & Simon Gardner. The EP explores themes of human existence, hope and heartache across seven tracks.
Nixer’s unique blend of electronic dance, inventive narratives and punk sensibilities creates a truly unique artist destined to take the scene by storm. This EP has you rooting around for a whole batch of feelings until you resign to melting to the rhythm. Imagine Fontaines DC creating liquid dance music, and popping pills.
EP-opener Hit The Town sets the scene of a fast-moving town, full of opportunity and promise. Nixer’s concoction of genres shines through immediately, giving you an injection of mesmerising colour. Whereas Second Hand picks up the pace, with a thumping drum beat as Seán lists the plague of deception cascading over the world. Short but sweet, Second Hand seems destined for energetic live sets.
Voices reaches for hope and takes a step towards the likes of dream-pop and shoegaze, with elements of New Order thrown in. There’s always a trick up Nixer’s sleeve and this was one of them.
The lead single The Book instead focuses on nailing what Nixer does best. It’s one of the only tracks on the EP which directly references locations where it was produced, making itself the thread every track flows through.
Saccharine Smile is a highlight and comes accompanied by an impressive music video. A vivid observation of the mundane reality of life. Saccharine cleverly refers to excessively sweet and draws an interesting contrast to the topic at hand. That smile is a cry for help and is anything but truly sweet.
The penultimate track is Fast One, which can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Our take is a dig at the fast-paced nature of modern online life. There’s a 90’s disco feel here, treading the line between dancing and moshing.
Rounding up the EP is aptly the second half of the title, Hit Me Back. A head-spinning and dreamy finale, it closes the door on this town and all of the narratives that have been woven through these streets. We only wish this outro was longer, there was a quench for more.
Speaking about the EP, Seán explains:
“The album began with the title. It’s a running title I’ve been sitting on for years and always felt very strongly about. There’s something so colloquial and relatable about it for me, especially being from a big Irish town. The idea of then personifying a town and feeling the raft of its hit has a very humorous but real place in my life.
The record embodies a collection of songs that are an observation on social settings and deals with themes of mobile phones, friendship, lies, romance, heartache and lots more. The most important element of the record is that it opens with ‘Hit The Town’ and ends with ‘Hit Me Back’, the opening and closing tracks of the album serve a purpose akin to the cover of your favourite book. The emphasis of the record is everything that happens in between, but doesn’t overlook these tracks for sure, they’re important. In fact, feel free to judge this book by its cover.”
:: Round-Up ::
Full of Irish charm and post-punk attitude, Nixer is a ball of energy just waiting to be discovered. I Hit The Town And The Town Hit Back is a compelling EP, giving you enough to fall in love with the music, but leaving a thirst for more. Purchase a limited run of golden vinyl now.
Now, it’s your turn. Give it a spin, and tell us what you think on Insta or X.
Rating: 7/10
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