A timely release for Istanbul’s Reptilians From Andromeda (RFA) considering the current turn of events in the political spheres of the US and UK, not to mention pretty much everywhere else in the world. The ‘Doomsday’ in question, packaged as track one of four from RFA’s latest EP, is more concerned with informing anyone willing to pay attention that all is not as it may seem, and that maybe you really shouldn’t believe the rhetoric televised almost on a daily basis at present. Such persuasion swings in favour of this garage-punk band from Istanbul as lead vocalist Aybike Çelik Özbey repeatedly cries, “Don’t believe the doomsday” to a fuzzy looped rhythm where the bass is raw and heavy and guitars glide effortlessly. If all this sounds a bit like A Place To Bury Strangers, for example, and nothing wrong with that of course, then following track, ‘Love Bait’, loses any such comparisons with a more straight garage rock and grunge feel that retains a very grubby appearance and all the more charming for doing so. With the EP being issued as a 7″ vinyl via Prof Sny Records, all recording and mixing duties were handled by the Reptilians themselves, only for Fran Ashcroft, formerly of power pop punk band The Monos! to apply mastering at Happy Beat studios (UK). Based on the evidence presented here, there is every reason to believe that RFA will be making further inroads to a wider audience soon, because ‘Doomsday’ EP never remains stagnant in terms of its approach and ideas, therefore giving the impression that there’s greater things to come from this quartet. In the meantime, RFA is definitely pushing all the right buttons as this is an engaging and fascinating ride that is worthy of your attention.