BLK JKS – Mystery EP

BLK JKS debut EP gets reissued this month on the formidable indie label force that is Secretly Canadian records, effectively quadrupling their distribution across the United States and beyond. And this EP deserves it, if for no other reason than the opening track “Lakeside.” The four cool-headed gentlemen behind BLK JKS exude a grinning confidence throughout “Mystery’s” four songs, though it’s ultimately betrayed as the cohesiveness of the total package never quite comes together in the end.

Opener “Lakeside” outshines the rest, bursting in guns a-blazing with violently metallic stutter-drumming and a sublime, hummable melody, eventually escalating to all-encompassing guitar distortion. It’s simultaneously dark and uplifting, powerful yet “cool.” The title track keeps these same elements intact while adding sparks of reggae and more straightforward dance beats as the song shapeshifts from a pop groove to noisy guitar disco and dissolving into formless feedback and ride cymbal. BLK JKS tend to lose their footing (and their appeal) in these dancier moments, as they never quite commit to a single feel by piling on the reverb and echo-y weirdness as if in an attempt to obscure their disco drumming. “Summertime” carries on the cluttered danciness of the second half of “Mystery,” and the EP closes with the forgettable, and even more cluttered acoustic song “It’s In Every Thing You See.”

The EP may be called “Mystery,” but I like to consider it an 18-minute “Lakeside” single. That song, along with “Mystery” and moments of “Summertime,” totally make this EP worth your seven dollars. I’ll say it again: “Lakeside” is sick.