MAKE SPARKS are a Dundee-based trio who’ve recently gathered some momentum thanks to high profile support slots with FEEDER, ATTACK! ATTACK! and SUCIOPERRO. This new EP was recorded by Bruce Rintoul of TWIN ATLANTIC and TINGS TINGS record fame at LoFi Studios in Glasgow, and it might just see them follow in the footsteps of their fellow Scots.
Opener, ‘Floored’, is a catchy rock-riff fuelled stomp with a cocky swagger – it’d be the perfect backdrop to a bar-room brawl – while ‘None The Wiser’ carries a more indie-rock approach; some intricate fret-work and a huge chorus.
‘The Ballad Of Crazy Joe Bloom’ mixes things up again with a staccato rhythm and a Western-vibe – If ‘Floored’ is the soundtrack for a bar-room brawl, this is the soundtrack for a wild-west saloon scuffle.
Overall, ‘Part Of The Masquerade’ EP ticks all the right boxes. It’s well polished, featuring some seriously catchy indie-pop tunes. Comparisons to BIFFY CLYRO and TWIN ATLANTIC are inevitable, and there’s some definite MUMFORD & SONS nods in there too, but MAKE SPARKS have stamped enough of their unique personality on this collection of songs to mean that there’s no reason why people won’t be using them as a comparison in years to come as the band make inevitable waves.
MICHAEL WILSON