Scared Little Toaster – NO DECAF (2025)
London/Norfolk-based duo Scared Little Toaster have returned with a blistering new single ‘NO DECAF’ – a two-minute burst of caffeinated chaos that feels like being wrenched awake by a malfunctioning kitchen appliance and then being screamed at by it.
Operating as a stripped-down bass-and-drums unit (with the occasional guest appearance from an actual toaster), Scared Little Toaster specialize in a raw, aggressive strain of experimental noise rock that owes as much to the jagged rhythms of math rock as it does to the scorched-earth squall of noise punk. On ‘NO DECAF’, they take that hybrid to its most volatile extreme yet, delivering a track that is equal parts frenzied, frustrated, and darkly funny.
The song opens with a flurry of asymmetric drumming – part jazz, part demolition site – before a distorted, angular bass riff lurches into the frame like a drunken robot on a tightrope. There’s no guitar, no synth, no polite scaffolding to soften the blow, just bass and drums locked in a wild, unpredictable dance that feels moments away from collapse. The band seems to relish this tension. Every change in time signature feels like a punchline to a joke no one fully understands, and yet it lands hard.
Beneath the chaos is a very real sense of irritation, not just performative angst. ‘NO DECAF’ captures the small, deeply human despair of daily disappointment: the tepid cup of decaf, the blackened edge of a once-promising slice of toast. These are trivial failures on paper, but through the lens of Scared Little Toaster, they become something operatic – a symbol of the unspoken griefs that pile up in the margins of our days. It’s melodrama, yes, but delivered with tongue firmly in cheek and amp fully in the red.
The band’s commitment to texture and tension is clear. The inclusion of domestic foley – clinks, clanks, a possible toaster ding? – adds an off-kilter, almost Dadaist layer to the track, blurring the lines between instrument and environment. It’s not just noise for noise’s sake; it’s noise with a grimy, lived-in purpose. You can almost smell the burnt crumbs.
With ‘NO DECAF’, Scared Little Toaster have created something bracing, bizarre, and strangely cathartic. It won’t be for everyone, but for those who like their noise rock jagged, jittery, and just a little bit absurd, it’s a caffeine crash worth enduring. Just don’t expect sugar or milk.
Find out more about Scared Little Toaster on their Instagram, TikTok and Spotify.
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