KNOWN as much for their impromptu lecture hall, bakery and metro gigs than for their music, self proclaimed “kitchen sink indie” band, Little Comets, have hooked up with independent label Dirty Hit to finally release their long awaited first album.
But despite their rocky break-up from Columbia Records, the quartet from Newcastle and Sunderland , have spawned a thoroughly catchy collection of harmonic indie ballads, hyperactive jumpy tunes and bouncy twisted love songs. And with tracks from as far back as early 2009, this mish-mash of the band’s first two years as a signed act is like a mini greatest hits.
Soon to be released single ‘Joanna’ is a definite highlight, with the cleverly ambiguous pronunciation of “Joanna” or “Do you wanna” adding yet more charm to this high tempo affair. With stripped back, guitar-strewn verses and an echoed winding guitar chorus matched with lead singer Robert Coles’, at times Johnny Borrell-like (Razorlight), vocal, this uplifting yet yearning love song is a true delight.
And this bouncy, upbeat, love-stained indie record isn’t short of foot-tapping songs, with older tracks like their first ever single ‘One Night in October’ and classy, issue-ridden second single ‘Adultery’ appearing on the album.
In fact Little Comets bounced their way into our musical consciousness through quirky cameos supporting the likes of The Twang, The Noisettes and Hockey. Here the group made a name for themselves by playing strung up makeshift instruments like saucepans in their live gigs.
But the poignant ‘Her Black Eyes’ introduces a softer side to Little Comets, with a gentle guitar setting the scene for Coles to tell the emotive tale of escaping domestic violence, or as the band more eloquently puts it, “where tension and silence can merge into violence”. A trademark echoic harmony and heavy drum beat follows Coles’ hopeful vocal before an acoustic strum saves the day and “her blue eyes, they depart from the story”.
A shimmering guitar opens the album’s latest single, ‘Isles’, with Coles sounding more like an edgier Dan Gillespie Sells (The Feeling) during the verses, in this downtrodden tale of British bleakness. Singing of working through a national lack of ambition, Coles sings: “Terribly bold they try so hard, to never look up to see the stars.” With a tangible frustration, this track has a sharp chorus and deliberate symphonic style which contrasts beautifully with the imagery of hopelessness.
Signing off with the uncharacteristic ‘Intelligent Animals’, Little Comets show yet another string to their charming indie bow with a dreamy, piano-laden reflection on society. Coles stretches his vocal range, expressing a kind of desperate undertone to an in part political message of how “we used to be such intelligent animals”, backed by a sleepy whining and even marked with a quote on the situation in Darfur.
‘In Search of Little Comets’ is a well written, emotively based, organic sounding record with that kind of basement charm and realism that makes the tracks somehow more relatable than your average indie band. Far more than a gimmicky uni fad, Little Comets should be considered more as an act that has the charm to pull you in and the tracks to make them real ones to watch in 2011.
9/10
Also published on www.virgin.com
http://www.virgin.com/music/reviews/in-search-of-little-comets/
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