Strap your boots tight and grab something solid, because KaiserKillers just detonated a new anthem right in your lap. Forget gentle reintroductions – their latest single, “Love Conquers All (25 Mix),” is a three-minute uppercut of pure, uncut PowerPopPunk. They hit the gas at 0:01 and only let off when your ears are ringing and your heart’s hammering like a snare drum.
These cats hail from punk’s raw foundations, yeah, but they’ve been mainlining a wild cocktail of rock ‘n’ roll history. The track is earworms with TEETH. Frontman Johnny Zero – pulling double duty on bass and vocals like a man possessed – spits his lines with that trademark sneer-meets-grin. You can practically see the raised eyebrow as he locks down a bassline tighter than a tour van’s suspension hitting a pothole.
And what a drive it is! But the real engine room – that’s Stix McIntosh behind the kit. His drumming is a frenetic, white-knuckle drive, the kind that makes you wanna sprint through a brick wall. Remember the legend about him getting accidentally abandoned at the motorway services? THAT energy. THAT glorious, unpredictable chaos? It’s bottled right here. And soaring over this glorious racket is the twin-guitar hellfire of Cristi Mac Seáin and Andy deForest. They deliver exactly what the faithful demand: snarling riffs that bite and bright-eyed jangle that gleams, all wrapped in a wall of sound so hook-laden it should come with a warning label.
Now, the “25 Mix” recording? Top-shelf. Cut at Bede Burn Studio (Newcastle) and Strawberry Field (Colchester), then polished to a lethal sheen in London by Francis Gorini. But listen close to that killer percussive intro… Here’s the gloriously ridiculous rock ‘n’ roll truth bomb: It’s the studio janitor’s handclaps layered with Stix beating a rhythm on a shoebox full of dried peas. I mean, COME ON! That’s the spirit! That’s KaiserKillers!
“Love Conquers All (25 Mix)” is KaiserKillers operating at DEFCON 1. Johnny Zero’s command. Cristi and Andy’s six-string warfare. Stix’s beautiful drumming chaos. All fused into three minutes of pure, uncut rock ‘n’ roll lightning. This is proof positive that in their gloriously loud, messy world, PowerPopPunk ain’t just alive – it’s KING. Hit play. Feel the surge.