The four-man Leeds natives Wintermute debut album drops on Oxford’s prime indie label Big Scary Monsters in the shape of Robot Works. They make a nice clean and tappy emo infused indie rock that BSM are so good at bringing to our ears. They fit right in with label mates This Town Needs Guns or Tubelord with their taping and melodies a plenty, not to mention the poppy hooks.
Wintermute have their own vibe that they bring to the table mind and that comes in the form of some Foals-esq indie dance party moments in places and in others a kind of power-pop meets post-hardcore energy, in-act they are pretty reminiscent of Kubichek! at times, or maybe a hint of their city mates ¡Forward, Russia! but with a less epic sensibility. It’s something they pull of quite well and it makes for a solid debut from the young band.
The catchy as hell ‘Bad Company In A Sauna’ almost makes me cringe at it’s poppieness but not quite it’s a wicked opener. ‘Disco Loadout’ is the most Foals-esq boogie down production but they bring a bit of grit and growl to the minimal dance guitar repetitions by growling a bit and adding distorted passages, to be fair to Wintermute they have been doing the Foals-y vibes for maybe longer than Foals them selves it’s just an accessible comparison really. I blame the press and a whole swath of bands listening to a lot of Minus The Bear all at once, in a house, making notes but in a good way (wink).
They pull out some brilliant jagged edge guitars on most of their tracks and have an ear for a melody. ‘Shark Vs. E-Boat’ is another highlight and the only thing even remotely Foals like on her is the drum hits that sound like the clipy clopy hooves of a tiny horse, which plays off some really nice melodic guitar taps. ‘Spanish Girls’ really does kill it in the quick fire melodic stakes though the riffs in this is something to behold, ‘I Abandoned My Boy’ is maybe the most mellow highlight of the album and it pulls off similar melodic heights before drifting off into an atmospheric sea of twinkling pianos.
Leeds has been very vibrant for quite some years now for producing these sorts of bands and Wintermute don’t let the side down at all in-fact they are very well established in the scene and have been for sometime now. They may not blow minds but Robot Works is a very enjoyable listen.
Wintermute - Dead Or Not He's Wearing Sunglasses from Roach Productions on Vimeo.
http://www.myspace.com/wintermuteband
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