EP Review – A is for Average by Baby Combat (2024) (Self Released)
It does not take much for a new phase of jangly post-punk infatuation to dominate my psyche. In this case, just a new album by Nervous Twitch and a single by Aluminum ignite my passion.
Luckily, this has coincided with the new A is for Average digital release by the solo recording project of Noel Yeo (Supersloth, Shelves), who has been simultaneously prolific and superbly consistent in releasing such music under his Baby Combat moniker since 2018.
As such, the EP moves within two primary nuances. Initially, Blackout Drunk Comedy, Myself Nobody Else, and Nothing Lasts I Suppose (possibly the greatest song that The Cure never got around to writing!) crush crunchy, melodic fuzz-laden guitars through all that is so very perfect about late 1980’s post-punk atmospherics to provide perhaps that extra bit of bite to Yeo’s usual sound.
In comparison, Deeper We Fall and Tenderfool move within the signature sound that Baby Combat has always excelled in, with the slightest of shoegaze machinations augmenting beautiful, jangled isolated riffs in the same manner as the ‘earphones in the dark’ sounds of the Middleneck or Mr. Floyd Larry aesthetic.
For whatever reason, this act does not really seem to get the love that he truly deserves in terms of critical acclaim, but for those in the know, he remains our ‘perfect secret’.
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