Electric Pets – Nicky Is Dead (Reckless Yes)
Electric Pets make a return with 70’s glam meets sci-fi synth single Nicky Is Dead and tease the release of the live recording from their Nottingham headline show
Artist: Electric Pets
Track: Nicky Is Dead
Label: Reckless Yes
Release date: 23 January 2026
Find it: Bandcamp
With a 70’s glam stomp and Moog-esque sci-fi synths Nicky Is Dead marks a strong return for Electric Pets.
No strangers to blending vintage garage rock, surf music and 60s girl group pop they first shared Nicky Is Dead in 2025 as an exclusive inclusion on their label Reckless Yes’ compilation Among The Wildflowers. Now getting a full single release, along with a live video teasing their forthcoming full length live performance film, the track has plenty of melodic detail and an enticingly ambiguous tone to the lyrics.
Frontwoman Emma Buckley said of the track: “Nicky is Dead a bold and sultry confession of femme fatale lust with a twist – the thrill of chasing the straight girl (because you know you’d make a better lover than her clueless boyfriend) and the unspoken price that comes with it.”
Previous tracks have often had a surf-rock flavour but that’s turned down here in favour of a grittier guitar-tone, punchy drums, and a whole load of delicious synths before the instrumentation drops back to give Buckley’s rich vocal the space it deserves. The interplay gives a feel of The Breeders’ Cannonball at times, but this is undeniably Electric Pets through and through.
Watch the live recording of Nicky Is Dead by Electric Pets
Accompanying the release the band has shared a video of Nicky Is Dead. This live performance was recorded at JT Soar in Nottingham on October 25, 2025 in front of an invited audience and is taken from the band’s forthcoming live album and full performance film An Audience with Electric Pets, to be released in 2026.
Bassist and songwriter Pete Darrington said, “The promo video for Nicky is Dead is something a little special and a sneak preview for what we’ve got planned over the next few months. While the version of the track we’ve released on all the usual digital platforms is the studio version of the song this is a truly live version. It’s not the usual pop promo video where the band mime to playback.
“At the end of October last year we did a really special show, at JT Soar in Nottingham. We love that place – I think everyone who is interested in grassroots and DIY music in Nottingham does – it’s a great little venue, but it’s also a fantastic recording studio. We make all our records there. As a label Reckless Yes had been exploring the idea of recording and releasing live performances from there and the idea really appealed to us.
“Phil and I talked about the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense and how sparse the staging is but as the show goes on, the band grows in numbers and the concert itself is a narrative about how the band and their music has developed over time. We wanted to do something like that – so the show starts with just Emma playing solo with her acoustic, just like she was doing before we formed the band and slowly we all join her on stage, including some special guest musicians too. It’s a real one off – filmed and recorded in front of a cozy invited audience.
“The result is something magical, recorded expertly by Robbie and Rich from Snug, that we will be releasing as a full length concert film and a live album – and seeing as this was the first time we’d actually played Nicky Is Dead in front of an audience, it made sense to use that section of the show as a trailer for the film and the live album as well as a promo for the single.”
Nicky Is Dead by Electric Pets is out digitally now. It was featured exclusively on recent Reckless Yes compilation Among The Wildflowers, available on vinyl, CD, and Bandcamp-only digital.
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.
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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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