Clearly the disappointing – though inevitable – lack of attention paid to last year’s storming fourth album ‘The Great News’ hasn’t dampened the fire in John Coffey’s belly. If anything, the Dutch punks have come back even stronger with new EP ‘A House For Thee’, another fat-free collection of white-hot fury.

There’s very little, if anything, on this EP that a band like Every Time I Die hasn’t done better, but John Coffey manage to bottle that influence into this firecracker of an EP. The likes of the ‘No House For Thee’ and ‘Nails On The Blackboard’ judder and convulse with a permanently on-edge excitement, with the larynx-shredding shrieks of David Achter de Molen acting as a suitably volatile overcoat.

There are a couple of surprises though, and even they’re carried out with a certain degree of panache. The swampy ‘Needles’ sounds like Wilson jamming with Alice In Chains, while closer ‘Relief’ is a surprisingly introspective acoustic track with some pretty decent vocal harmonies.

It’s enough proof that John Coffey are much more than a one-trick pony. Sure, where they stick to what they know they’re undoubtedly better, but the fact that they’re actually giving something different a go deserves to be commended, and that the results that it yields are actually pretty solid is certainly a bonus.

‘A House For Thee’ is unlikely to get John Coffey the far-reaching attention and praise they deserve, but for those in the know, it’s another hugely enjoyable, hugely versatile release from a true hidden gem. Well, we didn’t put them on our 50 bands to watch in 2016 list for nothing, you know.

4/5

‘A House For Thee’ EP by John Coffey is released on 11th March on V2 Records.

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Words by Luke Nuttall (@nuttall_luke)