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Open smartphone. Scroll Instagram. Trawl Facebook. An uneventful hour later, head back to your playlist of 90’s crowd-pleasers for the umpteenth time. The search for that life-affirming new sound, can prove testing at the best of times. In an ardent bid to turn post-punk firmly on its head, London based experimentalists Legss, hold this oversaturation firmly to account with their sophomore EP ‘Doomswayers’.

As inhibited guitars underpin the EP’s opener Local God, light-footed percussion simmers expectantly. Poetical frontman Ned Green offers his biting lyrics with unwitting vulnerability. A sardonic – yet relatable – account, we find ourselves revelling in a soundscape of grievances. As the EP unfolds the sporadic melody of On Killing a Swan Blues marks a gear shift in momentum. Clashing instrumentals propel Green’s world of imagined hysteria to the forefront. If you want to add an element of perturbed enjoyment to your experience, the single’s accompanying music video paints it’s ill-fated characters in enlightening shades of grey.

One for the disillusioned musos, Letter to Huw recounts a fictional discovery that BBC’s Huw Stephens: “cannot stand any type of music” – somewhat ironic given the announcement of his imminent split from Radio 1. Whether commenting in literal terms, or on the music industry as a whole, the track is a refreshing display of razor-sharp wit. The penultimate single Venus sees pulsating riffs race around an enticing guitar solo, as the EP nears its definitive close. Both the EP’s title and final track, Doomswayers, is a comprehensive exploration into unbounded remits of musicianship. Green comments that: “combining live instrumentation, found recordings and soundscapes, whilst fusing the creative inputs of all four members, Doomswayers acts as the group’s closing statement for what the future holds; ‘the age of the bystander is upon us’.”

Following the release of their collaborative book Good News Horse, and a sold-out support tour with Hotel Lux, 2020 has seen the art punks move from strength to strength. Whether you like Legss’ style or not, Doomswayers demonstrates what could be a thrilling shift in punk music and its possible capabilities. Find Legss on Spotify here.

By Laura Pegler