York Calling favourites 9 o’clock Nasty team up with Canadian musician and producer Preyswitch for a collaborative new EP.

By Graeme Smith

As you might surmise from its name, RETREADS 1 is a collection of reworks, taking on three previously released 9 o’clock Nasty singles and giving them a fresh coat of rubber. The guys have been turning their musical direction away from rock and towards disco recently, and this EP very much leans into that trend. Of course, with it being 9 o’clock Nasty, it’s not the typical disco in which we find ourselves.

Bad Monkey is the first to get the Preyswitch treatment. An ambient intro gives way to a swaggering rock and roll verse that’s enhanced with some vibrant electronica. The anarchic 9 o’clock Nasty spirit shines through while Preyswitch comes at it with his own unique flair.

Smash, Grab and Go opens with a pulsating beat and air-raid sirens before diving headlong into a criminally delinquent tale. Call and response vocals and a steady groove give us something to hold onto during an otherwise dizzying instrumental arrangement.

Crowland rounds things off with some dirty disco. A move-inducing riff has things bouncing along while the visceral lyrics leave nothing to the imagination. It’s the final twist in the tale of a trio of tracks that feels bigger than the sum of its parts. They stay deliciously coherent while giving us an entirely different take on 9 o’clock Nasty’s alternate yet familiar universe.

With this and previous releases, 9 o’clock Nasty are proving themselves the masters of the collab. There’s an exciting underground network of international artists around them making some amazing music. We’ve had the pleasure of sharing a lot of it on this blog. This EP might be the best of the bunch.

9 o’clock Nasty are already promising a RETREADS 2, coming soon.

RETREADS 1 is out now and you can check it out below.