Krispy & The Pooch Release Debut EP

New Zealand born duo Krispy & The Pooch have at last emerged from the grey and icy winter to warm our bodies with their energetic and expansive EP, Something Strange for Change. A blend of soothing neo-soul grooves, bone-rattling gutter funk and ear-worming electro, their new release is simultaneously a reflection of the boys’ varied musical influences and a distinctly modern sound inspired by the hypnotic dance music of their new home in Berlin.

Kriston Batistic (aka Krispy) and Simon Townsend (aka The Pooch) met in the squalor of a decaying student house in a wealthy suburb in Auckland five years ago. To fend off the rats, the boys were forced to come together to produce wall-shaking old-school hip-hop. Having garnered radio play across New Zealand, the project came to an end when Krispy moved abroad to further himself as a musician in the renowned scene of Berlin. Like a real good boy, The Pooch was soon to follow.

In the short time that they’ve been reunited, the boys have crafted their debut three-track release, telling their tales of the mundane, the humorous and the honest in a free-flowing blend of funk, neo-soul, hip-hop and electro.

Something Strange for Change opens with Where’s My Phone? and a kick in the face; a dirty guitar riff that calls to mind the stank of early Red Hot Chilli Peppers. A stripped back and funk-infused number, Krispy delivers a humorous story about relationship distrust in the modern day.

Second is Better, a bouncy, groovy neo-soul tune that is accentuated by soothing saxophone, skittering aural distortions and snappy percussion. An honest declaration of transcendence over mental illness, the track is as life-affirming as it is downright infectious.

The EP is rounded off by The Market, a progressive electronic number with a pulsing bass-line and heightened by a rush of tones and effects that culminate in perhaps the most experimental and catchy of the tracks. Lyrically sparse, the song caps off Something Strange for Change with an explosion of energy.

Enlisting the help of some of Berlin’s most talented upcoming funk, jazz and soul instrumentalists, Krispy & The Pooch have created an EP as colourful and towering as the graffiti-scrawled concrete buildings that define the city they inhabit; a sexy, dirty sound for all the boys, girls and rats of the World.