OPUS KINK - The Sweet Goodbye

Anyone who prides themselves on truly knowing the UK's new post-punk scene can't have missed the peculiar name of Opus Kink. “The Sweet Goodbye” may be their debut full-length, but this rowdy six-piece from Brighton has been setting the UK alight for almost a decade now with exuberant live shows and EPs, on the strength of which we can already comfortably place them alongside better-exported names like Shame and Yard Act.
In truth, Opus Kink might actually be even more original than the names just mentioned. They have a dazzling horn section and a taste for dancing that unmistakably recalls Madness (just listen to the irresistible opener “Come Over, Do Me Wrong”), they can veer toward no wave without losing themselves, and yet they carry a dark heart devoted to pagan folk and to his majesty Nick Cave (the dark-country guitar textures of “Will It Come For You?” don't lie for a single arpeggio). What else? A taste for theatre of the absurd that leads them into crowd-pleasing numbers like “I Am A Pretty Showboy”, where they even throw Blur and Beck into their impossible recipe.

These rascals led by Angus Rogers can also turn brooding and flirt with late-night jazz (“Peckham Nocturne”), just as they can crank up the grooves and cook up dynamite dancehall numbers (the title track, “Crucify”). On “The Head Tree” they even bring in fellow-townswomen witches The New Eves, casting them as both folk-punk priestesses and disco vocalists.
Eccentric lyrics, a firm grasp of new wave and an overflowing theatricality make “The Sweet Goodbye” a debut set to widen the band's cult following. If there's one note of caution, it concerns the tendency—typical of bands more geared toward live shows than studio work—to build every track around the same dynamic, which makes less melodically focused episodes like “I Have To Shine My Sunday Shoes” and “448C (The Colour Of Love)” feel a bit predictable. Should they ever decide to aim for a more prolific recording output, given the twisted ideas they come up with and the sheer verve they display on their instruments, Opus Kink would have no trouble ironing out that wrinkle.

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04/08/2026