Buckle up, rock ’n’ rollers—KaiserKillers are back with a revved-up, no-rubbish banger that’s louder than a Marshall stack at full tilt. “Saints Preserve Us (25 Mix)” is not only a remix; it’s a total reinvention of their signature PowerPopPunk chaos, dripping with snarling riffs, frenetic rhythms, and enough swagger to kick down a dive bar door. If lying were a sport, this track would be its adrenaline-pumped theme song.
Frontman Johnny Zero (guitar/vocals) is the glue—and the grit—holding this Yorkshire-born trio together. A car designer turned riff-slinging maestro, Zero’s vocals snarl with the melodic bite of Pete Shelley, while his guitar work channels the jangle of The Byrds on a caffeine bender. Bassist Andy DeForest, Zero’s longtime partner-in-crime since their ’90s days in The Isolationists, locks down the low end with a groove so tight it could strangle a python. Then there’s Styx McIntosh on drums, whose thunderous beats hit like a freight train, proving rhythm sections don’t just keep time—they start riots. Together, they’re a Molotov cocktail of punk energy and Beatles-esque hooks, thawed out (as Zero jokes) from a “cryogenic trance” to melt faces anew.
“Saints Preserve Us” is a middle finger to honesty, a raucous ode to the fibbers and fabulists among us. Zero’s lyrics smirk through tales of truth-twisting, delivered over a backdrop of breakneck chords and McIntosh’s seismic fills. It’s the kind of track that’d make The Smiths ditch their gloom and slam-dance with The Pixies. With airplay from Jiggy Jaguar’s coast-to-coast USA show and Punky Radio dubbing them “basically from Rock and Roll,” KaiserKillers are no garage-band novices. Though they’ve had their hiccups—like Zero famously locking the band’s car keys in the trunk mid-tour, requiring a 120-mile motorcycle courier rescue—they’ve turned chaos into fuel.
“Saints Preserve Us (25 Mix)” is a riotous triumph, blending punk’s raw edge with pop’s sugar rush. It’s loud, it’s clever, and it’s unapologetically alive. As Julie Hamill (Boogaloo Radio) put it: that “mod vibe” is undeniable, but KaiserKillers aren’t revivalists—they’re revolutionaries. Crank it, trash your room, and lie about who did it later. 5/5 — because rock ’n’ roll doesn’t need saints; it needs killers.
“We did a bit of strumming and got lucky… one or the other.” – Johnny Zero, probably smirking.