Labels: Art of the Underground
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I was really disappointed when these guys were unable to play the Southampton all dayer in December, as I was particularly looking forward to them. I had distroed a couple of their other releases, but I didn’t keep copies myself, I can be a bit picky with singles these days. Anyway, I finally managed to get hold of a copy of the LP on Art of the Underground and it is no let down, in fact it just makes me even more fed up that they didn’t play that day! Hopefully they’ll do a show in Norwich at some point.
This LP is 10 tracks of insidiously catchy indie / punk. It could well be influenced by the late 70s and early 80s new wave / post punk era, but my knowledge of many of those bands is so minimal that to my ears it still sounds rather fresh and fun. Mixed in with that, you get something like early Superchunk providing an indie rock injection. Quite a few bits remind me of the Tone actually, I would bet good money that these guys grew up watching them on a regular basis at the Joiners, heh. I particularly enjoy the rather youthful sounding snotty and shouted vocals. The shouting works particularly well on “Talk”, a song about shitty bars and clubs it seems. I really like the distortion on the loudest vocals. The almost schoolboy flavour you get from the vocals continues with NA NA NAs on “Crossroads”. “Soft Song” is pretty much the only slower song on here, and this one definitely sounds a lot like Superchunk. Could be my favourite of everything on here.
It’s difficult to know what else to add to this rather haphazard commentary, this is a bloody good debut, and I am certain that they would be well worth seeing live. I’d definitely check this out if you like rough and ready indie pop / rock that leans on the punk side of things, as I think you’ll be thrilled. Massive bonus points for the Topsy & Tim artwork!