3 out of 5

Label: Dim Mak

Produced by: Joel Brown, Mark Gajadhar (engineered by)

An appreciably weird effort from Johnny Whitney and Mark Gajadhar for their first post-Blood Brothers release, Headlines is instantly identifiable as the vocalist thanks to his signature shriek, and the harsh electro edge satisfies   the hardcore requisite set by BB, but the EP is fairly hollow beyond its single, more a palate-whetter than anything.

Neon Blonde’s sound as things kick off has the same blend of violence and sex as suggested by latter era Blood Brothers albums, but minus the scream component that the group was forever latched to.  This allows the duo to stretch more on the composition, turning it into a dancier, more sultry affair that’s like, musically, an amped up New Wet Kojack.  Headlines undeniably grabs our attention.  Followup Barbados Nights is much less impressive however, distilled down to a fairly boring beat and lacking any kind of hook, with Savannah Nights more energized, but still leagues behind Headlines, or most of what would end up appearing on the successive album, even.  The closing remix is a completely insane mash-up of drill-beats and layers with the already drill-beats, layered Headlines, but it ends up working, in a completely bizarre fashion.

I ended up really liking Chandeliers in the Savannah, but while the EP (at the time) had me interested in what would come next, it set my expectations at a clear “this is a side project” level; Johnny and Mark are clearly talented dudes, but are in need of finding a more distinct way beyond Blood Brothers, which they eventually did on releases and projects hereafter.