Album Review: Skegss - 'Everyone Is Good At Something'

It's not very often that you stumble across a rock release that could be referred to as "positive". Nevertheless, if that term isn't brought to mind when you listen to the new EP by Aussie boys Skegss, we'll be damned. Damned straight to hell!

'Everyone Is Good At Something' is just so cheerful (if you couldn't tell with a title like that) that you'll feel kind of motivated by it, in a weird, infectious way. Even though the first indie rock track-off-the-rank is titled 'Slayer', it has a cheerleader-like chant that is bound to lift your spirits up. Then you've got 'Mustang', which is basically a "do-something" anthem, hallmarked by the lyric "Go and do whatever you wanna". Speaking of the lyrics, don't get too worried when you feel a little weird about enjoying 'New York California', considering that it only has one actual lyric. Like the whole release, it is messy, but it's the good kind of messy that you can really get behind.

While most of this EP is all sunshine and rainbows, it does have more... realist moments. These include its final song, 'Wake The Fuck Up', which is somewhat of an anti-party anthem, and 'Van Halen', which admits that "you can't be happy all the time/sometimes you just gotta cry". Overall, this EP is essentially Modern Baseball if they were an NME-endorsed lo-fi act that made unflinching references to Australia's favourite alcoholic beverage - goon.

'Everyone Is Good At Something' plays out as an existential crisis that an indie rock aficionado may have amid a quintessentially Australian social setting. With the optimism of this new EP, Skegss are the Pharrell Williams of Aussie beach-rock, spreading the happiness around like a contagious virus that you'd be goddamn lucky to catch. Get keen, and get happy!

1. Slayer

2. Mustang

3. My Face

4. New York California

5. Van Halen

6. Stranger

7. Wake The Fuck Up