Aha! A serious band from the holy land of Englandshire and Stickybackplastics is their, rather flighty, name. Their intent, however, is far from sugar and spice and all things nice and their influences draw from the more intense practitioners of rock English style.
As a connoisseur of the female voice, Heather Niven’s maximum emotion approach to getting the lyric across was always likely to appeal and she, unsurprisingly, easily conveys the drama of “Vampire” and the shadows of “Toxic Secret” with her performance also serving to distract from a sometimes uncertain band. However, “Ten Years” allows this band the show what they can really do collectively when given the rock gun and a box of gothic bullets. The song seems, stylistically at least, to be of a time and place that predates the band itself but that sense of scale that allowed bands of old to go large has been effectively and convincingly recycled here with the guitarist, especially, gaining the confidence necessary to support Ms Niven’s voice on its celestial journey.
This self-titled EP represents a fine introduction to a band that has an undeniable appeal to the adults amongst us.
The EP is available from Bandcamp.