Ask me what sort of music I’m into, and you’ll normally get a non-committal grunting along the lines of ’this and that, a bit of everything.’ The answer you’re very unlikely to get is ‘Pre-Apocalyptic Clown Rap.’ That was until now, when Klown Kampf’s ‘Nu Heroes’ E.P wended it’s rather fucked up way onto my stereo.
You know that any record that opens with 'welcome the white devil' is going to be a bit different-if not necessarily slicker- than your average. When that song’s chorus is then made up of a sexy sounding girl saying saying; 'and then my thoughts turned evil, evil/ sending a plague on many people, people’ it becomes clear that indie-lite this ain’t, but a thoroughly individual piece of white boy rap, different to, well, anything else I’ve ever heard. To click onto that bands Facebook and realise that they all dress up as bloody scary looking clowns on stage is truly another breakthrough moment , and the realisation dawns that you are dealing with songs from another planet/time/space altogether. And it’s because of this, and the fact there is some splendidly chunky beatage behind the bonkers lyrics, that I really like this CD.
Sure, it probably shouldn’t go on while the parents are round, and whether or not I want to listen to it at regular intervals seems a bit of a moot point. But it is good fun, and I don’t think the guys in the band will be too upset when I say I can’t take lines like 'we’re gonna be knocking at Government’s door/ oi Gordon, better get ready for a holy war' with 100% seriousness (I hope not anyway- if they are going be to starting this war, I definitely want to be on their side).
The other thing so appealing about Nu Heroes is that, though the album mostly deals with the not-too-sunny issue of an imminent apocalypse, some of the songs have a very fun, party-like element to them. This is especially true for the fourth track 'hot Nasty Summer' which is built around handclaps, a chirpy drumbeat and some happy bleeps. The funkiness and head-bobbing nature of the tune almost makes you forget that the Kampf are rapping that 'time will stop and Armageddon begin' and that we 'Cyborg Citizens and Corporate Slaves' will apparently soon 'bear witness to the end of days.' The delicious dichotomy in the sound and lyrical content of this track sums up the band, and suggests that, though they clearly take this all very seriously and love the prospect of ruffling the feathers of a few squares, they also want to have a bit of fun at the same time. Which, all things considered, is probably a good thing.
Posted In Demo Corner, Feb 16 2009.
Words - Tom