‘Three Hits’ by Lenin Death Mask (EP)

Lenin Death Mask: indie-rockers that dare to be different

Stepping away from the violent pop of their earlier releases, this youthful act offer a record to catch indie-rockers attention

Aberdeen indie-rockers Lenin Death Mask announced themselves last November with the blistering Born A Catholic – taking the sandpaper-raw pop assault of Titus Andronicus and trimming it even further to make a skinny punk monster. It’ll come as some surprise to listeners then that Three Hits moves away to something different.

That much is clear from the opening notes of 7/4 Boreline, which starts with a clean passage in the vein of Biffy Clyro’s delicious build-ups, before throwing in angular riffs that owe more to Vampire Weekend than they do to Summer Vacation. Kindness, in at barely a minute long, continues the affinity for the grammatically acute New York four-piece, with guitar lines that suggest that Toys That Kill might be secret calypso fans. Wounded closes the EP with the band’s most obvious attempt at a hit, with an appreciation for shifting tempos and an awareness that throwing in a healthy dose of distortion will keep the lo-fi kids happy.

There’s more than a little truism in claiming that indie-rock has become a crowded field, but it’s no shame for a scene to be ripe with productivity. What it does mean, though, is that to be heard from the pulpit requires something a little different. On Three Hits, Lenin Death Mask haven’t just hinted at uniqueness, they’ve sought it out, and with vigour. That could have blown-up in their faces, if they’d got it wrong. Thankfully, though, the three songs of this EP confirm that Lenin Death Mask are a band that offer much more than just making up the numbers.

Verdict: Indie-rock that’s happily different

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