Album Review: Chemical Imbalance by The Kimberly Steaks

 

The Scottish punk rock scene is currently one of the strongest scenes in the world, with the likes of The Murderburgers, Get It Together, Billy Liar and Sink Alaska all putting out fantastic records. Another band that really stands out at the moment is Glasgow based pop punk band The Kimberly Steaks. This year they put out a new EP titled Chemical Imbalance and this is my review of it.

From the opening chords of the first song Chemical Imbalance, I am instantly reminded of early 1990's Green Day. This is brilliantly fast, anthemic, snotty pop punk at its very best. Lead singer Greig has a very recognisable vocal that fits this style of music perfectly. Chemical Imbalance is a track about feeling like you are losing control and not really knowing why. The second song, Ticking Over, is about not being happy with the state of your current metal health and trying to find a way to cope with it. The final lyrics of "I Need Something To Take The Edge Off Of Life" really sum up the message of the song. Musically the song is played ridiculously fast but the band have managed to make the track seem the perfect length; it's not over so quickly it leaves you thinking "is that it?" but it’s also not so long that you get bored. The third song is called Change Your Mind and is played at a much slower pace than the first couple of tracks. It's about realising that the medication/drugs/alcohol aren't necessarily the answer to all of life's problems and wishing you hadn't begun to rely on them. The final track on Chemical Imbalance is a cover of the song I'm Into Something Good by Herman's Hermits. I really enjoyed the speed with which the song is played and is a really refreshing version of a classic.

I may be reading far too much into things by saying that Chemical Imbalance feels like something of a concept EP by The Kimberly Steaks. It's about someone's deteriorating mental health, things getting too tough to cope and then eventually coming out of the other side of it all a better person. On a personal note I found the EP hugely relatable. Last year I began to suffer with some mental health issues myself and it took a very long time for me to really feel like myself again after a long and hard struggle. Thank you to the Kimberly Steaks for writing such an EP and well done for making it so much fun.

Stream and buy Chemical Imbalance here: https://thekimberlysteaks.bandcamp.com/ 

Like The Kimblerly Steaks here: https://www.facebook.com/thekimberlysteaks