Thursday 2 July 2009

Review - Them Squirrels - Them Scribbles EP

Them Squirrels - Them Scribbles EP

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8 out of 10

A fitting name for a band whose first track sounds like they have enlisted Alvin & Co into some kind of tree top battle with other itinerate rodents, visually like a poor man's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A poor man's anything else they are not though. If your cup of tea sounds like the bizarre electronica of Animal Collective combined with the chilled out hippy experience of Yeasayer then you are in for an exquisite treat, two sugars in fact.

Having never heard Attack + Defend I have both the advantage of no preconceptions and also the disadvantage of not knowing where to place this in Johnny Thomas' previous body of work, however I can inform you that Delicate Steps is the aural amalgamation of Thom Yorke and Wolfmother if produced by that crazy bastard Richard D. James. Bolshy, funky and vibrant. This successfully confounds and delights in equal measure.

Them Squirrels slip and slide from frantic to slow and thoughtful at the drop of a hi-hat. Packed with ideas, only The Number 12 Looks Like You could challenge the concepts/second ratio evidenced here. This results in a remarkably listenable extended player from a voyeuristic talent. From Two Trick Horse to Out of Sight this EP collates absent minded jottings and tries to make sense of them, sometimes failing, more often succeeding but always entertaining.

Listen: www.myspace.com/themsquirrels

Tracklist:
1. Two Trick Horse
2. Delicate Steps
3. Behind Those Walls
4. Pass the Puck
5. Out of Sight

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