Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Just on Sunday I was sitting in Waterloo Park in Norwich with m’good friend Mr. Bowen, post ice-cream and supping from a can of warm Heineken Export, and there were these bands playing. Most of them were fairly mediocre. One of them played a gig with an Ipod playing the backing track. It was ropey. Then these 4 lads had a go, and they even tried to be a bit personable, saying a few things, cracking a few jests, just like what good Norwich bands do. Maybe one of them shouldn’t have read the off-colour graffiti off the pillar in front of a crowd featuring many small childs, but these things are done in the heat of the moment. Anyway, this band played, and they were called Olympians. This sounded familiar. I kept saying to Alex, I know this for some reason. And thinking to myself, why does the singer sound a bit like Klim Long Live with a Northern accent. Finally, it fucking dawned on me. This was Hair Traffic Control except they had a new name. And their set was really good, vaguely mathy indie, with smart injections of pop, American Football twiddle, and trumpetmo. The band has really got it together now live, and in particular on this demo, which is 4 clever little songs of Autumnal cheer. All dewy guitar twinkle and softness, trumpet parping here and there and gentle harmonies that turn into occasional noisier moments of post-hardcore emphasis. “Could You Face” is perfectly judged and could well be the best thing they have yet come up with, showing off their now honed song writing chops to great effect. There is now a pleasing lack of twiddly technicality, and in it’s place a resolute desire to craft smart and quality pop music. I really am not sure what to compare it to, sure, American Football is a touchstone but so is something like the Sea and Cake!
I must admit I was surprised by just how good this ended up being. It was not a direction I expected Olympians (née Hair Traffic Control) to wander off in. Yet it is the direction I *wanted* them to go in. Cripes. It’s rare when a band does that, I must say. This is lovely, certainly.