Let’s Get Weird follows on from Malmö, Sweden-based rockers Astro-Lloyd’s 2023 album LOUD NOISES, which I ran the rule on for this blog.

By Graeme Smith

Feature photo by Pedro Bergamo

Astro-Lloyd describe the four tracks of Let’s Get Weird as being “too good to fit” on LOUD NOISES. Considering how much I enjoyed the album, that’s certainly an enticing prospect. The title refers to the uniqueness of each track, and the collection shows an act not afraid to push the boundaries of their sound.

It opens with Cowboy and we are instantly thrown into the deep end with some hard drumming and relentless riffs. Things slow down during a pleading verse before ramping back up again during a pop-punk-esque chorus. You get the sense straight away that we’re going to get something different from this EP, yet the spirit of Astro-Lloyd runs right through it.

Dolph is a Queens of the Stone Age-inspired grungy rock number that makes great use of rise and fall between its simmering verses and boiling over choruses. The vocals are particularly expressive during this track and a prog-rock instrumental breakdown proves a highlight.

23.19 keeps things progressive with an experimental arrangement that deviates between the tight and terse and the expansive. Speedracer – 80’s inspired version then closes the EP by slowing the tempo. A dark and trudging arrangement feels a world away from the previous three urgent hard rock tracks, and provides a final sting in the tale for a collection that simply refuses to be defined by genre.

Astro-Lloyd are a band that continue to surprise us with their approach to music. Their new EP shows what good can come from not setting your own musical boundaries, and how a band can stay true to their sound while tearing up the rule book.

Let’s Get Weird is out now and you can check it out below.