EP Reviews: Shygirl, Earthgang, Foxtails

I did like 1 EP review for the entire month of February so let's catch up on what's been going on in the short form. 

Club Shy EP - Shygirl

You could certainly describe me as a Shygirl skeptic for quite a while now. While her talent is obvious and her versatility is a strong suit that very few of her contemporaries possess. Though her vocals are often compelling and she has tapped into some interesting sonic fusions, too much of her material just feels like such a mash-up of random styles that it becomes nothing. The one track I really liked from Shygirl up to this point was BDE which features Slowthai, and we're not going there right now. 

So I didn't exactly go into this new 15-minute EP expecting some of Shygirl's best material yet, but that's exactly what we ended up with. Of all the styles she's dabbled in really directly in the past these clubby pop songs seem to fit her the best. The first one that hooked me was tell me with Boys Noize whose repeated refrains are absolutely infectious amid a thumping club beat and bouncy synths. I also have a huge soft spot for mute which features my favorite feature on the project. I saw LoLo Zouai open for Slayyyter last year and she won me over pretty quickly as an artist to look out for. I love her contributions to this project. Other highlights include the opener 4eva with Empress Of and the more pure pop cut on the album mr useless. Even songs on the project that I'm not a fan of like the blissfully short fake are at least painting with far more vivid strokes than some of the most unrecognizable Shygirl material in the past. This EP doesn't have ambitions to be anything other than what it is and that streamlining resulted in some of the most enjoyable songs I've ever heard from Shygirl. 7/10

ROBOPHOBIA - Earthgang

I like Earthgang a LOT, definitely more than a lot of the other critics who cover them. Back in 2022 they released the album GHETTO GODS which I gave a positive review to and it's only grown on me more and more since then. Last year they dropped a great single with Die Today. That ultimately landed on a different EP but it ended up being one of the only tracks I really enjoyed on the project. So I just couldn't resist covering the duo again. Mainly because I know what they're capable of, but also just because this EP title and Fortnite loading screen ass album cover made me morbidly curious. 

The EP starts off with BLACKLIGHT which is a rough place to begin. I guess I'll start by saying that the band clearly believes in this chorus refrains a lot more than I do and that's before you even get into the very wishy-washy sung vocals. This is definitely a song that seems the walking away from their rap influences but what they supplement it with isn't great. OSMOSIS similarly wanders from the realm of rap into something that is almost shockingly sentimental. While I appreciate when the band gets into their true emotions the short refrains and gentle singing on this song isn't working for me a bit. Though the rap verse that ends the song has some compelling moments it doesn't really save the track. 

I do like the song PUT IN WORK but I also have to repeatedly ask myself if that's just because it's the best of a bad bunch. The verses are pretty solid and features some of the irresistible wordiness that I've come to love from the pair. The hook could use some work maybe but that's a nitpick if anything. Also Snoop Dogg is here. He pops up with a surprisingly solid verse on the closing track PERFECT FANTASY though it eventually gets to a place that feels a bit explicitly sexual for old man Snoop Dogg to be rapping. This EP is a tough listen. The band are certainly approaching a change in style ambitiously and I admire them swinging for the fences. Nothing about this project falls flat for lack of trying, but compared to almost everything else they've done none of the immense talent both MCs possess really feels present on ROBOPHOBIA. 3/10

home EP - Foxtails

After giving the band numerous tries before Foxtails finally clicked with me in a MAJOR way when they added a new member and an impressive array of instrumentation of 2022's fawn. I was really looking forward to what the band did next and that first taste came on this surprise-released three-song EP. My highest hopes were met pretty much immediately with the rousing opener dereliction. The song features spacious thumping drums that set up the drama that erupts from the hook. What I found even more compelling was the shift it makes from the slower more brooding screamo passages into the much more up-tempo, chaotic, swirling moments that make up much of the second half. 

dissection comes next and kicks off with some slightly obscured talk box vocals. It's an interesting choice at first but I think it makes some of the harrowing singing that comes later on the project even more compelling by comparison when it feels like you can hear it so clearly. I can't say I like this song quite as much as the opener mainly because it doesn't really build up momentum in the same way and the layered vocals in the back half don't carry the same urgency as the rest of the song. Speaking or urgency, the album absolutely ROARS back to life with the ripping closer deconstruction. The weird back and forth between all the instrumentation in between absolutely throat-shredding refrains gives me musical anxiety to listen to and I mean that in the best way possible. This short project is exactly what I wanted from Foxtails and if they continue to put out material this good they could have another great screamo project on the way soon. 8/10