Getdown Services: Crumbs 2

(Breakfast Records)

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Getdown Services release a treat of B-sides and demos as they near the end of their sold-out UK tour, honing their trademark combination of silliness and musicianship while delivering a peek behind the wizard’s curtain.

Getdown Services have established themselves as slick operators, distributers of fine-tuned waffle who lay lyrics of irreverence and pop culture over the filthiest, grooviest instrumentals. The dynamic duo of Ben Sadler and Josh Law have amassed a vast fanbase through their relentless touring schedule, their shows an unruly display of pure party and community. A wise man once described their gigs as a cross between an illegal rave in a field and a magic show at Pontins: the cheeky Getdown toy with their audiences, pulling them into their audacious inside jokes and stripping away any sense of modesty or self-consciousness. What other band could sing about Ken Dodd’s dad’s dog’s death and still have enough presence to retain their swagger?

Although their lyrics are often abrasively contemporary, they clearly have the sensibilities of pop traditionalists. Aside from their clear reverence for pop pioneers like The Beach Boys and The Flaming Lips, they love a non-album single (see the twistedly kitschy Dr Christmas), and release semi-frequent compilations of B-sides and demos which often contain some of their most interesting work. Their first B-side collection, Crumbs, begins with I Got Views, one of the duo’s most-streamed songs, while a demo of one of my favourite tracks, I Wish It Didn’t Bother Me, gives an insight into their creative process; in this case, from a shy synthwave number to a strutting tune of self-conflict and social awkwardness.

Crumbs 2 is the aptly named sequel. Its six tracks are offcuts from their past two EPs: little digital ditties, electronica instrumentals, and alternative/early versions of other songs. Don’t Cheese Me Off is a menace of relentless dance beats and bass, supported by a music video of a man in red (The Red Bastard) dancing in the woods, as if the Lorax had a bit too much spice and tried doing a Kate Bush impression. It is shorter than two minutes, but only because it leads so well into the compilation’s most vulgar track, Vomit, Piss and Shit. Getdown Services, even at their most ridiculous and childish, still manage to ground their work as musically fun and culturally insightful, pairing the titular lyrics with Clarkson, May and Hammond.

The ‘shit sandwich’ sequence at the end of the compilation – Skidmark Boogie and Swagga Back acting as the faecal-based bread enclosing the unfortunately named I Want To Eat It – is trademark Getdown. Skidmark Boogie is an alternate version of James Bay’s Hat from 2025’s Primordial Slot Machine: the latter is a grimy demonstration of the duo’s fantastically witty wordplay; Boogie, rather, owes more to Bolan’s Hot Love than Roots Manuva, two-stepping its way into being mistaken for actual 70s glam. Swagga Back picks up where Boogie left off, ending the compilation on a lo-fi note that sonically wouldn’t feel misplaced on the soundtrack of They Live, though I think Carpenter would leave out the bluer lyrics.

The instrumental tracks range from the club-ready (Something French) to the Roxy (OK), curiosities that exhibit exactly who Getdown Services are. They are musicians who pursue their passions, dragging their listeners with them through the Shawshank tunnels of their minds, every song an experiment in form and execution: how do you make songs irreverent and amusing without falling into the embarrassing or banal? The answer – position yourselves as the clown, the court jester who has enough craft and nous to take aim at anyone and anything and pull it off. Most importantly, as this compilation shows, they are a band who force reviewers to type the word ‘skidmark’ far more than they would like. God bless the Getdown.

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All words by Alfie Sansom. More writing by Alfie can be found at his Louder Than War author’s archive. You can also find Alfie’s work on his website, Argus Far.