Electric Pets – Kowtow! (Reckless Yes)
Kowtow!, the first release of 2025 from Derby four-piece Electric Pets gives us a slow build indie rock tale of self-liberation.
Artist: Electric Pets
Track: Kowtow!
Label: Reckless Yes
Released: 3 March 2025
Find it: Bandcamp | Spotify
Electric Pets – the Derby-based indie rock four-piece fronted by Emma Buckley – have kicked off their 2025 with the release of single Kowtow!. The bittersweet tale of what can be lost as well as gained in claiming self-sovereignty begins the run up to a forthcoming EP, out on the returning record label Reckless Yes.
From a languorous start, where space is held in the melody for the distinctive and powerful vocals of Emma Buckley, Kowtow! is soon storming along with the blend of ’60s guitar pop and modern indie rock this band do so well. It’s Camera Obscura mashed up with Queens of the Stone Age as the pace builds and layer upon layer of instruments and backing vocals wrap around the emotional core of the song: that moment somewhere between resignation and resolve.
Composer Phil Wagg said of the song “I am often striving to create what I call the perfect happy/sad song. A song that is positive, uplifting and emotive, but also quietly beautiful and steeped in melancholy. That was the starting point for Kowtow! I love songs that that cleverly manage to hold a mirror up to that.”
Lyricist and lead vocalist Emma Buckley agrees, adding: “Kowtow is a beautiful bittersweet anthem of self-liberation, capturing that delicate balance between holding on and letting go”.
The first track to be taken from a forthcoming EP (which will follow 2022’s pair of EPs Rhinoceros and Elephant) Kowtow! shows a band who have found their sound, and it’s one we’re all the better for hearing.
Kowtow! by Electric Pets is available on all the usual digital platforms now.
Phil Wagg of Electric Pets is also in Iris – read our feature about them being the most mysterious band on the internet for 20 years.
Upcoming live dates:
- 29 March 2025 – The Hairy Dog, Derby
Find Electric Pets: Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify
Disclosure: Sarah Lay is editor of Popoptica and co-founder of Reckless Yes, so has some involvement in the release of this record – but she really does only write about or work on music she loves.
Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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