Hailing from Yorkshire, the rock quartet Flesh Planet produced their first EP, fittingly titled First Flesh, which releases March 27th. Though this is the band’s first EP under this name, they are far from rookies. The band consists of former members of the popular rock band Allusinlove/Allusondrugs, including Damian Hughes, Drey Pavlovic, Jemal Beau Malki, and Connor Fisher-Atack.
The project opens with “Computer Games and Rude Things,” a harsh track from the mindset of a young person, taking what they’re given, sitting back, and staying quiet. The shoegaze-inspired lines “I'm warm and happy in the back seat/ I only think about computer games and rude things/ I build new worlds in my head/ I just want to lay down, cry and go to sleep” start the EP in a flashback that’s also reminiscent of the present. The band ends the track with the album’s most striking line: “If you don't try to find a way out/ We'll try to find a way out,” a call to action for shutting down our devices to wake up our brains.
“Big Machine” deepens the previous track’s sound into something even messier and more chaotic to continue to express their frustration with technology as something to dull humans down instead of propel us forward: “Advertisements suck you in/ Pull you through the big machine/ Wired through your bones and meat/ Assimilation is complete.” The band fills the EP with angry energy at every turn, combining early-2000s sounds and screams with current themes. “Protoblood” switches gears, embracing a caricatured version of a darker, more metal sound. This track emphasizes the priority of this EP as being complete creative rejuvenation and experimentation. In every track, the band takes another creative swing, and they score every time.
The EP’s fourth track, “Evelyn,” zooms in, creating a narrative about the title character, a “lucky girl” who’s been trained to smile and behave despite personal struggles: “Evelyn's got the world/ Give 'em a smile, give 'em a smile/ Give 'em a smile girl/ Why do you let your darkness show.” In “Evelyn,” the band expands into a new realm of storytelling, defining a different emotional side to their sound. The track is followed by “Birdcage,” a musical interlude between lyrically deeper tracks, which places the majority of its focus on a reverb-forward sound.
“Absorbed” takes listeners back into the dark world of cruel realities established in the EP’s first half. The track uses new faded vocals to express frustration with people changing themselves to fit internet or social standards and avoid criticism from others: “Suck it up/ Your soul cries desperately/ Welcome the ugly faces/ When they mock you.” Fully dedicating themselves to an older hard-core sound, “Colonise and Maximise” is the band’s strongest and loudest protest to colonization and the greed of people in power. With lines like “Send it out to take it all/ Send it out to kill what's left/ Send it out to make it yours,” the band do their best writing and most emotive screaming in this true punk highlight of the EP.
The EP closes with “Pull Out the Wire.” A thematic continuation of the previous track, “Pull Out the Wire,” acts as a narrative for people taken advantage of by people with a position of power. The track protests cruel work conditions and emotional manipulation from the government and the 1%, letting the band leave this EP on a note that’s both artistically rich and emotionally devastating.
As the start of a new chapter, Flesh Planet could hardly have done better to make a new and reenergized name for itself. Their artistic voices and strong friendship is evident through every track, making this new iteration one to watch for. The band is also planning to return to touring this year with rock duo VUKOVI.
Stream First Flesh here:
