Shaven Primates turn modern anxiety into a ferocious art-rock assault on new EP 'Kill The Algorithm'

Shaven Primates have never seemed particularly interested in making comfortable music. Across previous releases, the Oxford quartet have tackled desire, addiction, childhood trauma and unconventional thinking with a theatrical mixture of post-punk, prog-rock and darkwave experimentation. And on 'Kill The Algorithm', that unease becomes sharper, louder and noticeably more confrontational.

The four-track EP centres on anxiety and control, but approaches those ideas from several different directions. Instead of presenting one continuous argument, Shaven Primates examine the mechanisms that can leave people feeling manipulated, angry or increasingly disconnected from their own judgement.

‘Saviour’ opens in particularly muscular fashion. Drawing from the darker corners of 90s alternative rock, grunge and industrial music, the track considers the tendency to search outside ourselves for somebody capable of providing answers. Grinding bass and abrasive guitar work give that frustration physical weight, while the band's dramatic vocal approach brings an almost theatrical instability to proceedings.

Then ‘Pioneer Way’ shifts the target towards nationalism and the anxieties surrounding public displays of identity. There's a more overt punk attitude here, recalling the sneering directness of late-70s British rock without becoming a simple stylistic recreation. The song feels deliberately agitated, allowing humour and irritation to coexist inside a suitably unruly arrangement.

Perhaps the EP's most pointed moment comes with ‘Feed’. Inspired by online personalities who monetise the insecurity of young men, it pushes the band towards even heavier territory. The riffs become more aggressive and the rhythmic attack more insistent, reflecting the cycle of fear, resentment and prescribed masculinity being scrutinised.

The title-track then brings all those concerns together. ‘Kill The Algorithm’ examines the way recommendation systems can repeatedly reinforce increasingly extreme material, questioning what happens when engagement is valued above consequence. Musically, it is equally uneasy, bringing shades of Joy Division and Radiohead into a colder, more expansive conclusion.

But what makes 'Kill The Algorithm' particularly effective is that Shaven Primates refuse to make their anger tidy. Basslines grind, guitars howl, synthesisers flicker between vintage unease and contemporary abrasion, and the vocals can move from controlled croon to outright eruption.

Across four compact but restless tracks, 'Kill The Algorithm' turns frustration into something punk-minded, art-rock strange and angry enough to leave a mark.