If you haven’t heard of Two Tonne Machete, get on it now. Hailing from North Wales, this band has spent several years toughening up their mix of punk and political anger, and with Lead With My Bad Side they reach their most ambitious and devastating point to date.
The song opens with a burst of garage punk: a dirty, relentless guitar riff, cranked almost to the limit, that pulls the track forward without giving it a second to breathe. It does not need embellishment, because its strength lies in repetition, tension and drive. The drums keep a dry, fast punk pulse running through the song, holding its urgency from the start. Underneath, the bass does more than carry the rhythm: it works with the drums as a firm, constant base, allowing the guitars to gain weight while the song keeps all of its tension.
Against that instrumental backdrop, Em sings with huge presence. Her voice pushes from the centre of the song and holds its ground even as the guitars gain weight. At times, there is something of Karla Chubb from Sprints in the physical intensity and the anger held in the tone, and something of Skin in that powerful, direct, authoritative voice that stays firm even when the song grows heavier.
The lyrics blend political anger, exhaustion and a call to react. They start from the idea that being a good person is no longer enough in the face of a toxic system, and end up arguing for a more combative response. The “burn it for me” becomes the centre of the song: a simple, direct line that marks the moment when patience runs out.
And if the song already felt huge, the final section confirms it. Suddenly, the cadence becomes slower and heavier. Bass and drums mark out a firm, almost mechanical step, and the guitars trade punk urgency for a more hypnotic tension. The keyboard adds a dark, hazy layer, while Em’s voice appears as an enveloping, almost wordless chorus. There is something of IDLES in that rhythmic machinery and in the way the song becomes more claustrophobic, more repetitive, more physical.
Their debut EP is due in September, and after “Lead With My Bad Side” it is hard not to look forward to it: if this is the direction they are heading in, Two Tonne Machete could be an absolute force.
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