Yak have always used intensity as their greatest weapon, hammering their way through tracks loud enough to make your ears bleed. New one ‘Bellyache’, however, uses restraint to its advantage.
Let’s be clear here, it’s not a ballad, or lumbering in the slightest, but the space given to the song by its slow, steady drumbeat allows all manner of fascinating, psychedelic squeals to worm their way around the QOTSA-esque rock song at the track’s core.
Wah pedal-assisted guitars give the track a woozy, otherworldly quality, before a stab of incessant noise barges through for a chorus-of-sorts. Completely by surprise, the track then folds out into a majestic outro, punctuated by horns. A fascinating change of pace, ‘Bellyache’ shows that Yak refuse to be pigeonholed, and are all the more exciting for it.
Music video by Yak performing Bellyache. © 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
The Fat Angel Sings 