In March 2010 the Dutch band Nikoo released its first EP. The record is offered as a free download with a smoking hot video clip accompanying the single Cow. The trendsetting American music platform Pitchfork praises the inventive noise-pop of Eindhoven-based Joep van Son and his band members. In the dark days of December 2010 the second EP titled Friends & Family is released through the Utrecht-based quality label Beep! Beep! Back up the Truck. Van Son: “Nikoo irritates. At least, I hope it does.”

A craze for raw, raunchy pop music got Joep van Son writing in early 2010. After merely one hour of rehearsing, the productive quintet enters the studio for the recording of six abrasive and urgent songs. “I love musician’s first impulses. Short rehearsals keep the creativity and hunger fresh. You can hear that in our recordings”, says Van Son. The first EP was received with enthusiasm: “Somewhere between Sonic Youth at its most rocking, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead at its fuzziest and Dinosaur jr. at its most melodious moments”, according to renowned music magazine OOR. VPRO’s 3VOOR12 adds: “A band that pushes boundaries and goes beyond them to create something new.”

The recipe for success is repeated at the end of 2010. Friends & Family, with its seven songs, screams for attention. Songs about women, girls, exes and movies, all recorded by band member and producer Rob Bours. This second release is available from December 20th onwards. For now only digitally and through a ‘pay what you want’ construction. The artwork is created by Dutch music photographer Nick Helderman (Oor, Vice, 3VOOR12, Self-Titled Magazine).

Nikoo is a noise-pop beast to love. Songs and productions of international class. No bells and whistles, full of threat, urgency and sex. Raw and pure, hard and overwhelming. Joep van Son and his four noise makers take you by surprise as no other, full of inconvenience and dispossession.