Chew Me/Love in Lit and Lang - The Compact Pussycat

One of the reasons that I get so annoyed with the current trend of people only attending gigs by bands that they already know, who fit exactly into their current musical wheelhouse, that their brother-in-law plays bass for, or whatever comfortable fit it might be, is that you miss the opportunity to be totally surprised by a band you previously knew nothing about.

That was how I first encountered these splendid people, a small festival, the knowledge of one of the members previous musical art attacks and cool name was my ticket, and boy did taking a chance on them really pay off.

Their set was fun, infectious, deft, energetic and it stood out from your average young band in that rather than deliberately going down a path dictated by indie fad or pop fashion they seemed to hop, plunder, engage, warp, embrace and generally bend to their will any genre which took their fancy. Love in Lit and Lang is the perfect call back to that first encounter with these cool ‘Cats, full of addictive pop-rock energy, deft and danceable indie grooves and pop infectiousness all woven together so well that not only can you not see any obvious musical references, you can’t even see the joins.

Chew Me is a more mercurial affair. Drifting and slightly psychedelic, ambient and gorgeously soothing, it is a side of the band that I haven’t heard before and just underlines their musical know-how not to mention their bravery even more. I guess life doesn’t come in neat definable genres, so why should music? - Dave Franklin