Oxford’s Secret Rivals are the latest in an impressive procession of bands making the city’s rep of genteel academia and dreaming spires redundant in a burst of fizzingly creative musicianship. Foals, Stornoway, Spring Offensive, and famed old big guns like Supergrass and Radiohead make for an impressive cast list – but also a tough act to follow. Interestingly, the city’s music seems particularly diverse and creative, with lots of bands heading off in different musical directions rather than following any particular trends.
So what of these latest young bucks on the scene? Well, we’ve got guy/girl vocals, shouty bits, and jangling guitars seemingly born of punkish instincts but filtered through some ’80s/’90s guitar indie influences. The four-piece scream high energy but harness their punky pzazz with plenty of melody and songcraft. After last year’s debut EP release “Start Fires” they are set to release their debut long-player “Make Do and Mend” on Kittiwake Records on 12 September, and wouldn’t you know it’s pretty good stuff.
Opening track “Ghosting” is pretty typical of the band’s sound, with driving guitars propelling the song at breakneck speed, like a simpler Los Campesinos, or smoother Johnny Foreigner, or a tougher-and-more-English Pains of Being Pure at Heart. It’s a catchy little blighter and entirely enjoyable. Singer Jamie Corcoran’s shouty bits interweave with Clouds Saez’s fellow vocals like they’ve been singing together for years. Which they have. At eight tracks and an attention-deficit-challenging run time of under 30 mins, “Make Do and Mend” works like a high energy musical uplift. Short, sharp and lively, its best moments, “Tonight Matthew”, “Ghosting” and “Panic/Don’t Panic” more than merit the support of 6Music luminaries, Lamacq and Robinson. Oxford continues to impress.
More here!
