Naked Face bend genres on exciting second single 'Coming Home'

Hailing from the Melbourne suburbs, Naked Face came together at a time when the world seemed to be falling apart. 

The trio formed officially in 2019 when vocalist Slik, and drummer Nathan, recruited English-born Eddy as the final piece of the puzzle, and they have managed to cut their musical teeth in a pandemic-ravaged world.

The first taste we got of this exciting punk band came in 2020, with the release of the hard-hitting ‘Beach Punk’. 

Their follow-up single – 2021’s ‘Coming Home’ – finds the band spread their wings and experiment with a genre-defying sound. 

The song opens with the air of an ethereal synth track, before being joined by a heavily reverbed guitar that only adds to the dream-like intro of the song. The echoed vocals and rhythmic drum tapping hint at a band experimenting with shoegaze, yet the piano and drumbeat are also reminiscent of early ska beats. 

It’s not until the two-minute mark that the song bursts into life. The change comes like a bolt out of the blue, yet shows us a side of the band in which they perhaps feel more comfortable. The pounding drums and snarling vocals are reminiscent of ‘Beach Punk’, whilst the pop-punk power chords sound like they were lifted straight out of an early Green Day song. 

The change in direction lasts only a moment before the somber and mellow reverb returns. The distorted echoes of “Here she comes” are joined by an overlay of Spanish guitar licks and reggae drumbeats as the song gradually fades out. 

With ‘Coming Home’, Naked Face have already shown maturity and willingness to experiment that can often take bands years to conquer. A delve into shoegaze and a hint of reggae influences can be felt profoundly on this track, yet their penchant for raucous riffs and bombastic drums is always lurking. Being only their second single, it is already exciting to see where this band may go and I for one cannot wait to hear what a full-length LP may sound like from this Australian trio. 

James Ogden

 Image: Coming Home Single Artwork