Y’s bruising new EP ‘ENTER’
The EP is the London five-piece’s second, following 2025’s ‘Y’.
Photo: James Barrett
ENTER, the second EP from British quintet Y, marks a darker step forward for the group, who last year released the fittingly-named Y. ENTER builds from modest beginnings — the quiet before the storm opening of Duplicate, before storming into a punk-gone-ska right hook. There’s a bit of Opus Kink in here, and it bounces around with just as much jeer.
May, meanwhile, has a more typical indie sound, with loud and ‘open’ guitar licks and a marble-cutting bassline. Generate The Ohno is like some twisted Louisiana dance; with moments of neurotic sax and bluesy backbeat. Skipper, which we covered back when it came out in October last year, is still endlessly enigmatic. Sophie Coppin’s vocals are at once alluring and off-putting — pure punk.
The EP’s climax, Waiting Winning, is perhaps the most hard-hitting of the suite, with concussive breakdowns and a jabbing chorus. Once again, that sax drones in from somewhere off in the background, haunting and right where it needs to be.
It feels like the band had a lot of fun putting ENTER together. It’s by no means comical, but Y’s latest doesn’t take itself too seriously; permitting itself to bounce around and dance alongside the genuinely brutal riffs and moments of brilliance. It’s a bountiful sophomore EP from the group; a little less noisy than their first extended play, but wringing out just as much power.
ENTERis out now via SO Recordings and Hideous Mink Records.
