Copy Haho - Bred For Skills & Magic EP (Big Scary Monsters)

Copy Haho have been in my peripheral vision for quite some time now, I could see them out the corner of my eye but I hadn’t quite got round to giving them my full attention yet. Now their time has come, I’m staring them right in the indie pop chops.

Bred For Skills & Magic is full of joyous hooks, riffs and twangs. Everything is so melodic and fun but they also manage to stray away from the cheese in fine style too. They have that playful energy that people like Pavement and Weezer had. But Copy Haho are no copycats they do it there own way. They channel their energy’s into wonderful slabs of lilting indie pop that bounce and swing like a late night in a friendly small town pub. Which is quite apt really as they hail from Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland.

Vocalist Hearty has that Scottish twang that kind of gives a melodic drunken feel to the songs, I’m not saying all Scots are drunks or that this one is by the way, but these tracks do have a mellow boozy vibe to them that I think comes from the vocals.

Bad Blood is maybe my favourite track on Bred For Skills & Magic, it’s also the one that reminds me most of Pavement with a splash of Jonquil in the chorus. The Last Dash is in a similar vain too, both of these just sounds so cool to my ears the chord progressions give off an effortless charm that’s hard to pin down but you know just sounds damn good.

Opening track Pulling Push Ups sounds a bit like an indie anthem in the making; I could just imagine this being played in to the kids in the skinny jeans clubs all over the land. It’s a joyful sugar rush kind of tune it makes me smile. This is one of those EP’s that everyone will have a favourite track.

At first glance Copy Haho seem to make standard indie gubbins but these songs bubble under the surface in a slow burning kind of adorable manner before exploding with vibrancy and joy. There is something subtle about them that really draws you back in time after time. For a debut EP it’s a tasty treat so gobble it up like a big scary monster and enjoy.

Live Dates (all w/ The Xcerts)

02/02 - Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh
03/02 - Cafe Drummond, Aberdeen
04/02 - Mad Hatters, Inverness
05/02 - The Doghouse, Dundee
06/02 - The White Room, Sunderland
08/02 - Club 85, Hitchin
09/02 - Boiler Room, Guildford
10/02 - Hamptons, Southampton
11/02 - Old Blue Last, London
13/02 - Tap n Tin, Chatham
14/02 - Marquee, Hertford
15/02 - TBA, Glasgow (no Xcerts)

www.bsmrocks.com

www.myspace.com/copyhaho

Download: Copy Haho – Pulling Push Ups