PINS – Bad Thing EP

Manchester five-piece PINS have been sharpening their rock nous for some time now, impressing with their previous two records Girls Like Us and Wild Nights. Recorded in an cottage in the isolated Scottish Borders town of Ettrickbridge, Bad Thing shows PINS successfully using electronic elements to hone their sound further, offering an exciting preface to their forthcoming third full length.

Despite the EP’s nightmarish overtones, there is an inherent playfulness to Bad Thing typified by its gleefully distorted opening track, a teasing thump of a playground sing-along led by a swaggering performance by vocalist Faith Holgate. ‘You say I’m bad like it’s a bad thing,’ Holgate smirks, and with its on-off dynamics and bouncing bass, one can imagine it going down a treat in a live setting.

Aggrophobe continues Bad Thing's experimental mood as drummer Sophie Galpin and bassist Anna Donigan lead the band into a mysterious bass-led stomp featuring guest spoken word verses from glam rock legend Iggy Pop, culminating in the haunting mantra-like chorus of 'So many actions, so many voices…' All Hail, meanwhile, hits the sweet spot between surf- and psych-rock, combining a driving stoner riff with classic 60s guitar from guitarist Lois McDonald, electronic drum pads and mystic vocal harmonies.  

The contrasts on In Nightmares are surprisingly affecting, mixing Holgate’s forlorn lyrics and cooing harmonies with echoing drums, the track fading out with a repeat of itself as if it is already a distant memory. Making the most of the informality of the EP format, PINS even slip in a fitting cover of Joy Division’s Dead Souls, tightening their Manchester forebears’ original song into a moodier number with watery Cure-like guitars and snappy synths.

‘Everyone says we’re no good / We don’t do what we should,’ PINS sing on Bad Thing’s title track. Keep right on at it, we say.

Listen to: Bad Thing, Aggrophobe, In Nightmares