Sextile – yes, please.

Label: Sacred Bones
Released: 2nd May 2025

Sextile’s ‘yes, please.’ bursts forth with all the subtlety of a rave at 3am – which is to say, none whatsoever. The LA duo have bottled that precise moment when the bass drops and strangers become best mates, riding the current wave of indie-sleaze resurgence while carving their own niche in the crowded dance-punk revival landscape.

Melissa Scaduto and Brady Keehn understand the assignment. ‘Women Respond to Bass’ does exactly as advertised, delivering a club thumper that wouldn’t feel out of place sandwiched between CSS and M.I.A. in a 2006 DJ set – there’s proper heart beating beneath the strobes.

The album truly finds its groove when raw emotion crashes headlong into pure dancefloor mathematics. ‘Kids’ brings Izzy Glaudini from LA trio Automatic along for the ride, her vocals floating like cigarette smoke above relentless percussion. ‘S is For’ turns repetition into revelation, each syllable landing like a percussion hit in its own right.

Not every track maintains this delicate balance. A few numbers blend together in their pursuit of perpetual motion, and occasionally the pristine production begs for a bit more dirt under its fingernails. But when they get it right – as on the brilliantly abrasive ‘Kiss’ – it’s transcendent.

At its finest, the album revels in its own contradictions, finding sweet spots between polish and grit, intimacy and anthems. Like the best nights out, it’s a bit rough around the edges, utterly exhilarating, and leaves you checking your phone for the next event.