What we've been listening to...Sprints, Keg, Moreish Idols, Splint, Shady Baby, Tragic, Human Interest, Personal Trainer

By Jon Milton

Nice Swan Records just keep going from strength to strength don’t they? They’ve given a succession of excellent EP’s this year from the likes of Sprints, Opus Kink and English Teacher and this summer they’ve also unearthed new gems in the form of Splint and Shady Baby.

Brighton based Shady Baby are inspired by Madchester and Britpop and their impressive latest single Lonely Town definitely (maybe) has a touch of early Oasis about it, no bad thing. It follows on from Come to Life released earlier this year. 

​Manchester 5 piece Splint’s debut single is ‘in essence a song about confusion of adolescence and the acceptance of your own failings, each of which lead you to the circumstances you find yourself in’. Its also a darn good tune with slight echoes of their label mates Hallan about it. Hup, two, three, four!

Both Shady Baby and Splint are out on the road playing days this month, if you fancy catching them before they get big. 

Like the magnificent Sprints, who have another new tune out this week, ‘Literary Mind’. Literary Mind continues the transition that a lot of band seem to be making from spoken/shouted to sung and the band carry it off well. They’re also touring next month all over the UK. 

​Not to be outdone by their northern counterparts, Speedy Wunderground Records have also come up trumps this summer with the debut EP from Moreish Idols.

The EP is an absolute cracker from start to finish. It starts and ends with the two frantic singles released earlier this year ‘Hangar’ and ‘Speedboat’ with new songs W.A.M. and When the River Runs Dry sandwiched in between. There seems to be a trend developing at the moment with guitar bands incorporating brass into their sound and these guys manage to do it exceptionally well. 

As do Keg who’ve just released their second EP ‘Girders’. Girders follows on from last year’s debut ‘Assembly’ with the gloriously obnoxious ‘Kids’ and ‘Elephant’ and disorientating ‘NPC’ accompanied by three more tracks ‘5/4’, ‘Girders’, and ‘Sing Again’. There’s a bit more experimentation on Girders compared to Assembly and again even a little bit of singing (unsurprisingly on Sing Again’) in among the shouting.      

Other tunes worth checking out right now include: 
 
Tragic - Backfoot
Human Interest - Alive
Personal Trainer - The Lazer