As promised, here’s my rundown of my favourite EP’s released this year
5. Bright Eyes- Live Recordings
They didn’t get onto my albums list, but this 6 track EP of live tracks is absolutely brilliant. It has 3 of the strongest tracks from The People’s Key which sound much more expansive live, whilst 3 fan favourites from previous albums are performed with gusto. It shows off how good they are live without overstaying its welcome like most live releases. Most definitely one to get a hold of.
4. Black Market Serotonin- Dead By Five O’ Clock
The debut release from local Manchester band Black Market Serotonin is brilliant. It’s still a rough recording, but the potential is in abundance. It rocks out hard and long, whilst keyboards gives a wider dimension than in their various previous bands. It’s essentially prog revamped for the 21st century and is bloody catchy at that.
3. Chokebore- Falls Best
9 years in the waiting and worth every second of the wait for long time fans. It may start deceptively with a bouncy pop song (by their standards), but it soon unveils itself as a dark and tortured album of sad indie rock songs. Lyrically impeccable from start to finish and spell binding.
2. Johnny foreigner- Certain Songs are Cursed
This EP was the first glimpse of a new version of Johnny Foreigner. At only 4 tracks, it showed off how they’d smoothed off their rougher edges whilst also extending their sound. So whilst there’s two full on instant classic indie pop, there’s two more subtle songs, the piano burner “Johnny Foreigner Vs You” and the haunting acoustic “Certain Songs”. It showed off the direction that would be fully explored on their excellent “Johnny Foreigner Vs. Everything” album. The ep on its own is still excellent and deserved of your attention though.
And now, drum roll please for my favourite EP of the year:
1. Perendiz- Simple Songs For Complicated People
Released one track at a time over the course of 6 weeks, this set of songs were recorded in Michael Bear’s bedroom and you really wouldn’t be able to tell it. There’s a range of styles on show here from the fuzzy rock of “Oh Johnny” and “Thank You Very Much George”, to the synth covered “Work. It. Out.” and jaunty piano based opener “A One Sided Conversation”. It’s insanely catchy and brilliantly arranged, and structured more or less perfectly. For a debut release, its pretty much flawless. You should definitely hunt this down.
Coming Soon! James Ether’s Albums of the Year! Probably starting Monday… probably.
