Noodly math-rock bands may seem to be ten-a-penny nowadays, but this is a real breath of fresh air. Despite hailing from the same country as the stratosphere-scraping pop stylings of Lostprophets and Kids In Glass Houses, Welsh three-piece Samoans have unleashed a debut EP that’s miles away stylistically. The band are fresh from appearing on the BBC Introducing stage at this year’s Reading and Leeds Festival, and rather than the bombastic big choruses of their countrymen, they take a considered and meticulous approach to songwriting – it makes them dynamic and kinetic, constantly changing pace.
Their forebears have left their mark all over this work, and yet this feels effortlessly original and exciting. Second track “Acrobat”, for instance, has shades of the much-missed Meet Me In St Louis’ magnum-opus ‘Variations On Swing‘, with its swaying riff never letting go as it whirls around your ears. ‘Catamaran‘ puts you in the mind of ‘Infinity Land‘-era Biffy Clyro, the tried and tested loud-quiet-LOUD formula working wonders, powered on by a terrifying bout of goatskin-punishing from drummer Chris Rouse (also of Surrey rockers Hold Your Horse Is).
Finale ‘San Marino 1994‘ really gives them the chance to spread their wings and show their colours. Unrelenting riffs are layered on thick and fast, making for an epic finish in which singer Dan Barnett really soars, proclaiming that “you are so beautiful on fire“. A markedly heavier departure from their earlier offerings, it’s something different from the Valleys and a cracking effort from a band that really should be on your radar – this rocks out and intrigues in equal measures.
OLLIE CONNORS