Birmingham's definitely having a good year music wise. There's definitely a burgeoning scene developing there. There's even a term for it now: B-town. I must say I find that title to be a total embarrassment. Just.... why? It's not even accurate - Birmingham is a city, not a town for a start. Not only that but the term B-town doesn't even begin to describe the music these bands produce. Which is a lot better than the term B-town itself, thank goodness. Spearheading this wave of music are Peace and Swim Deep. Another group that hail from Birmingham who have particularly grabbed my attention though are Jaws. So earlier, I listened to their debut EP, titled Milkshake.
Released in April of this year, I've only discovered Jaws thanks to the issue of NME released two weeks ago. They were featured in an article about smaller bands worth checking out at the then upcoming 2013 Reading & Leeds Festival. I listened to their Milkshake EP in earnest. It's a compilation actually; comprising all A-sides and corresponding B-sides released by the band up until that point. They have released a subsequent single called Gold though. As for Milkshake, I have to say I really liked it and I'm excited for what the future holds for these guys. Their greatest strength lies in their versatility. Opening track Breeze rolls along at a brisk pace and is very jangly indie-pop in style not to mention uplifting. The second song, Donut however is much more distorted in sound and echoes the sounds of bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain. There's even echoes of shimmery synths on one or two tracks, like Surround You, for good measure. All throughout though elements of melancholy can be found though, mainly in the vocals. I actually found the vocal stylistically similar to New Order's Bernard Sumner. They both have that cold and detached, yet youthful sort of sound. There is a definite mix of styles on Milkshake though, and I wouldn't be surprised that the only way is up for this latest group from Birmingham.
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