VUKOVI, KILL IT
Lab Records

Never not a powerhouse, VUKOVI have gone from strength to strength, culminating in the polished synth-rock of latest single KILL IT. After storming through with both their self-titled debut and second album Fall Better, they’ve cemented themselves as one of our scene’s loudest voices and incomparable live favourites, and though they haven’t formally announced album three just yet, we’re already more than ready.

VUKOVI have been turning up the vulnerability with some of their most stinging tracks yet – both latest cut KILL IT and last year’s SLO tackle vocalist Janine Shilstone’s struggles with OCD in increasingly searing ways. SLO’s devastating melancholia likened OCD to a toxic relationship, dizzying and dark, but KILL IT is all the more ferocious. Described by Shilstone as “a battle cry to the war that’s going on inside my head”, it couldn’t be a more brutal statement of power. Shilstone’s almighty vocals thunder out with equal parts painstaking intimacy and rousing catharsis, melding with the screech of synth and riffs in the backdrop of the chorus to truly explode.

Instrumentally, VUKOVI are abuzz with ever-increasing ambition. As heavy as always, but with a kind of cinematic shimmer that elevates KILL IT to a new scale, the Scottish two-piece have never sounded huger. Crashing, burning, and erupting with energy, VUKOVI continue to sharpen up; they’re relentless through and through, and KILL IT is the latest promise that whatever they do next will be even better.

KILL IT is out now.