Demos

Mlini - The Mlini EP

Owain Paciuszko 21/09/2009

Rating: 3/5

London based four piece favouring the quiet, pleasing hiss of analogue recording and crafting catchy indie-pop with flavours of Hefner.

Opening track Monkey Say Monkey Do is minimal, yet catchily arranged, with a simple guitar hook and a friendly chorus of backing vocals dotted throughout; it has the energy of Kings of Leon's debut but with a The Jam-like minimalism. Meanwhile Demons Out has a slow build reminscent of the careful grandeur of The National, yet it saunters woozily into off-beat asides that distinguish the band from an attempted sound-a-like.

There's a whispery-croak to the lead singer's voice on 7 Feet Below and a retro feel to the track itself, somewhere between twee and a 1950's slowdance. Whereas on Go Back To Texas there's a strange touch of Brandon Flowers to the vocals, though the track itself fortunately lacks any of the foney posturing or chrome embelishments of that band, instead doing a worthy job of desertland through British eyes. Closing track Long John Silver starts with a similar Americana feel and a lucid guitar/bass melody over dustbin-lid drumming.

This is something of a difficult EP to really tackle, whilst it's pretty good it doesn't quite leap out of the speakers and grab you by the collar. Mlini could be a band to watch, but this is something of an auspicious release.