Otherkin is More Than “OK” Otherkin aren’t inventing anything new in terms of sound, but what they have created is an album full of catchy garage rock that will have you stamping your foot and yelling at the top of your lungs.

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No strangers to the Irish rock scene, Otherkin give us electrifying rock ‘n’ roll in their debut album OK. These raucous Dubliners have been impressing audiences since 2014, with their punchy songs and energetic live performances, but now we have a concrete studio album to highlight their grungy garage rock.

The album kicks off with ‘Treat Me So Bad’, a fun bopper of a song with upbeat, explosive guitars reminiscent of The Strokes, with singer Luke Reilly’s vocals wailing through the speakers. The song details a one sided relationship, but instead of being morose, it channels that anger into catchy rock ’n’ roll.

Songs like ‘Come On, Hello’ and the single ‘Ay Ay’ attack with sing-along choruses, grungy bass lines and layered high pitched guitars — delivering a sound somewhere between Seventies punk rock and early-2000s rock.

There is a contrast between a bouncy pop rock injection on songs like ‘Feel It’, ‘Razorhead’ and ‘REACT’ with a heavier, almost Ramones-like sound on others like ‘Enabler’. It’s this heavier sound which delivers the finale, ‘So So’; a crescendo builds slowly with structured reverberating guitar, hammering bass and tempered vocals until it lets loose 4 minutes into the song.

Otherkin aren’t inventing anything new in terms of sound, but what they have created is an album full of catchy garage rock that will have you stamping your foot and yelling at the top of your lungs. It’s fun, head-bopping rock which hasn’t been seen in the Irish scene in a while. If you get a chance, you should go to one of their shows and expect it to be a thunderous performance — with plenty of crowd surfing.

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