Can’t Stop Talking About Can’t Stop Talking
Can’t Stop Talking, formed by Jamie (vocals) and Daniel Autorino (guitar), alongside Luca Volpi (drums) and Hannah Pemberton (Bass), continues a rolling streak of London post-punk that is nasty and risqué. The London 4-piece stands as a worthy addition to the onslaught of UK/London groups that have popped up in recent memory. The stimuli of outfits like IDLES and Viagra Boys are a more present, compounding factor in the group's presentation. Yet they also exist in the same space as Royal Blood or The Pearl Harts. And every so often, this caravan of inspirations crashes headfirst into the family of five that is Queens of the Stone Age. However, the group is never beholden to these figures. They stand confidently as their own enterprise, not allowing themselves to be cornered by expectations. Nothing speaks more loudly to that fact than their new pair of singles.
All Images courtesy of Can’t Stop Talking
Released on February 27th, the first of the band's new singles, “Hot Stepper,” is a display of magnetic swagger. The track is a continued affirmation of their proclaimed angry Talking Heads personality, only with an alt-rock lining. The mid-tempo, sharp hooked track is a loud, yet smooth-talking personality. The tipsy guitar riff and gunky bass stand as alluring features of a nightlife creature. It takes up space while simultaneously sleakly strutting down late-night alleys, its leather boots clicking on the cobblestones beneath.
Narratively, we get something just as enticing. The entity of the night, personified in a seductive stride, haunts as red LED lights from bars, strip clubs, and gambling dens flood the streets. Its character and narrative are provocative and predatory. More so, the ‘Hot Stepper’ is a feeling, an of-the-moment rock 'n' roll that takes us in those minutes of the midnight hour. It's trouble, taboo, and amusement all in one.
The momentum continues with the band's second highly anticipated track, “Easy Tiger,” releasing on March 27th. Here, the strut builds with purpose. Try walking down the street while listening; you’ll find your stance and pace change to that of someone who has been told a dirty secret. The song makes that fact involuntary with the track's creeping, almost obnoxiously sarcastic guitar riff. The band's darker-bark interpretation of punky Talking Heads is loud, sometimes even sliding into a Bowie-esque cadence.
Our narrator for the 3-minute and 36-second song tries to make sense of a landscape populated by impostors and egos. The repeated phrase ‘easy tiger’ is an authoritative vessel telling them to chill out while the room begins to spin. However, this invalidating voice becomes sarcastic and mocking. The band corrupts it, turning it into a hot loogie of attitude, spitting it right back in your face. It’s a maddening perspective, yet rebellious and mischievous but also terrified of its surroundings.
All Images courtesy of Can’t Stop Talking
Both singles are fantastic introductions to the band's sound. Certainly, if one were to ask me where they could get the hookup on some ‘good shit,’ I would slide them an unmarked bag of Can’t Stop Talking. They are the type of entity whose unsavory intentions are hidden until you invite them through the door. They are vampiric in that and underestimated in their ability to inflict damage on whoever thinks it will be a quiet night on the town. There are certainly stylish, vivid things to come from Can’t Stop Talking. Hopefully, people will shut up, heed the warning, and listen. “Hot Stepper” is out now; “Easy Tiger” releases on March 27th.
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