Airhammer *are from London and if you believe their press release, play *‘Music Hall punk’. Whatever that means. However, slip this nifty little 3-inch CDEP on and you’re greeted with the kind of mischievously twitchy folk-punk that makes you want to set alight to your Nan’s hair and bounce naked around Tescos on one of those big bouncy round things.

Essentially though, Airhammer’s songs do just about have some warped sense of structure and tunes, rocking out on an up-beat, arpeggio-led bass backline. But it’s as if these three perfectly good musicians have become possessed by three animaniacs, subtly wrecking their original intentions.

Take ‘Streets R Scum’. A song that seems to be going ok until the bridge where they decide a George Formby banjo breakdown would be suitable before shouting _“Men on the loose!” _four times then returning to the songs original form. Mental.

Airhammer, a band who, judging by the pictures on the inlay sleeve, take baths together and play gigs on mini roundabouts, is fronted by the bastard lovechild of Dave Crockett *and *Les Claypool *(if that’s possible) 18 year old Ben Smyth, a guy whose lyrics can shift from fireflies to getting turned on by girls with thongs to getting his favourite singer’s autograph to being a cover girl in an alternate universe within the same song (_‘Fireflies’_)! Seriously, this band make *Penthouse **sound sane!

This six-track EP, consisting of the first release ‘Masters of Disguise’ _EP and the radio-only single _‘If You Think I Love You’, a ramshackle country-punk ditty, eschews any orthodox song-writing rules, shifting and moving into something different when you least expect it. Re-Shape Whilst Damp ends with the Monk-chant opening of _‘Ali Bye’ _before racing into something reminiscent of *The Crockett’s *more lively numbers.

And the best thing is, I have a feeling they really don’t care what anyone thinks. A quirky release from a quirky band. Airhammer will be undertaking a short tour during March and April so check their website for details.