Sugarthief, I Before E(P) - EP review

The four-piece - just the fifth act to appear in The Ticket Unsigned back in March 2017 - have been building a fanatical following ever since.

Their set at the Beyond The Tracks festival that summer was one of the surprise pulls of the whole weekend and they have been name-checked by most Madlands scene commentators as future stars.

This - their first collection of tracks to be put down under the careful eye of Harry Handford, frontman of Brummie act Spilt Milk Society - takes their alt-rock sound of previous singles and throws in just about anything to make it carry a dangerously zany persona.

One can only cast their minds to the kind of work Martin Hannett did adding touches of wizardry to Joy Division's material. While we are not comparing the two bodies of work in sound or style, similar experimentation must have taken place.

It's six tracks of largely the lighter side of indie-rock.

The fluffy and delightful Anywhere carries this feeling most, with that breezy melody drifting delightfully below the care-free vocals of frontman Jordi James. His brother Jack teases him brilliantly with their guitar work. This is a sound born out of knowing each other inside out, and if they continue this musical relationship they could compare to the brilliant creations of Interpol's Paul Banks and Daniel Kessler.

The zany vibes continue at a canter in Why'd You Listen (You Shouldn't Listen). It begins with a foreboding feeling of the grating pretensions of Arctic Monkey's dreadful release last year, but it smashes right through that and gives us a hauntingly melancholic jazz and funk vibe. it's like one of those distorted film soundtracks where our reeling protagonist is stumbling drunkenly into the "spiral before the redemption" part of the movie.

Talk In Moderation features Spilly Milk, and that piercingly fun chorus is very Metronomy with its swathing vocals and electronic bass carrying them along.

It's a grower this one, and you pick up more every time you listen. If this is a pointer for things to come, it won't be long before we are all saying "I remember seeing Sugarthief play to a crowd of 30 in..."

Rating: 7/10