Creating a stir within London’s live music circuit, post-punk trio Alien Chicks are unrelenting with their latest single ‘Babe’. The track begins with a boom of sound; an impenetrable instrumental thunder and calls of ‘babe!’, bringing in the band’s raucous spirit head-on. The wall parts for the verses, an eclectic spread of casual lyric delivery and a jazz-styled flow of carefully-stricken percussion, smooth bass and a grazing saxophone. The choruses see the return of the aforementioned thunderclaps, zeroing in on post-punk tendencies to give tender thoughts such as ‘I don’t know why/ I love it when you call me babe,’ much sharper undertones. Guitarist Josef Lindsay has described ‘Babe’ as “…a letter of complaint dictating that no one ever truly has complete free will or choice over what they do in their life, partially as a result of the previous generations’ shortcomings.” Rejecting submission, ‘Babe’ is a message with a kick. A flaming, tenacious offering from the South London rockers. -Kayla Sandiford