Labels: Clue #2
Review by: MH
This is one band that many who read this site will already be familiar with in Doe, but perhaps less so with Taxa who come from Canada. Doe have two songs on side A. “Bright Eyed” is as driven and energetic as I’ve come to expect from Doe – hints of Sleater Kinney in this one and nice interplay once again between Nicola and Jake on vocals. “Sedated” is even better with a very stripped-down 90s indie rock opening before the bigger part where Nicola yells “I’ll be sedated”. Great song from easily one of the most exciting bands in the UK right now. Taxa’s sole track on side B, meanwhile, is a longer one and features shades of Unwound with a nicely thick bass line. The opening is a little melancholy, a little atmospheric and gets bulldozered as the vocals come in and things get darker. The male vocals are delivered in an almost deadpan style before screamier female vocals appear. The thickness of the bass and rhythm section really powers this track. I just discovered that two of the members of this band are also in Damages and I’ve mentioned Unwound as a reference so that should be enough to get you interested. A great pair of bands here and the artwork on the cover is superb too.