England’s favourite sons of the street are back, and stepping up their game to the next level.  It’s the return of the real no less. 

Karl Phillips and The Midnight Ramblers follow up last year’s critically acclaimed, slap you about the face with a witty wet sponge debut album by unveiling their new four-track EP, Dangerous. So think bass heavy verse and hook filled indie with attitude; more proof of the musical prowess inherent in an act that's impossible to pigeonhole. 

This next instalment still boasts that same compelling marriage of punk, garage and acumen, a brew they deliver with the deft skill of true tastemakers. But don’t call it a rehash, this is an exhibition of a band refusing to stagnate while so many others seem happy to merely replicate. 

There’s the weighty grime, dubstep, and dnb meld that is the title track, an outing that sees the irrepressible Phillips work with vocalist Sabrina Altan to create a dancefloor meltdown of punch, kick, and step. From it’s tense, half-time beginnings to the frantic breakbeat drop the talent in these genre-straddling legs is plain for all to see. 

Stabby Joe’s acoustic introduction belies the thrashing electric rock of its chorus, winding up the atmosphere to leave us in some indie-rap netherworld of groove and funk, while telling tales of the culture behind Britain’s grass roots. 

Diatribes and sharp observations abound then, along with enough rhythm to explain why, at an intimate London gig, security were forced to ask fans to stop dancing for fear of structural damage. Similar praise can be lauded on Faithful Stanley’s snarling swagger, and the rhyming showcase of Nervous, but we’re sure you get the point by now. Episode two’s here, time to put some work in. 

Karl Phillips & The Midnight Ramblers / Dangerous EP

Single ‘Dangerous ft. Sabrina Altan’ & EP Released. December 5 2011

Label. Medical Records

Cat no. MRCD003

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