New Music First! Spectrals
This week we headed down to London’s Hoxton Bar & Grill to check out Spectrals. Headed by the enigmatic Louis Jones – who solely writes all the music – we were taken aback by the gloriously melodic lo-fi indie on show. Backed by his band, Jones led a set that included tracks from his forthcoming ‘Spectrals Extended Play’ EP. The music is rooted in the catchy melodies of ’60 and ’70’s soul but sewn together by Louis’ distinct Northern accent. While there may be a crop of bands from the US displaying similar influences - for example Harlem, who took to the stage after Spectrals – it’s refreshing to hear an unmistakably British slant on the sound.
Tracks such as the loveable ‘7th Date’ show Jones to be a hopeless romantic, albeit one with a killer ear for a melody. Live the band are particularly understated, only acknowledging the crowd after one particularly “wacky individual” placed a plastic deer’s head on stage.
‘Spectrals Extended Play’ will be released through Moshi Moshi on October 10th. They will also be supporting the likes of Avi Buffalo, Yuck and Les Savy Fav before playing the Welsh Sŵn Festival in October. For more details head to their MySpace.
Photos by David Sutheran.
