Demos

Pete Hickman - EP

Owain Paciuszko 16/02/2011

Rating: 3/5

Pete Hickman is both a man and a band, this three track debut is a slickly produced collection of twinkly indie-rockers, opening with The Master which sashays from anthemic choruses via buoyant The Shins-esque verses. Ultimately sounding like a more mellow Josh Homme number, it's a fair to middling little diversion and a confident beginning to this record.

Things go distinctly Elliot Smith on Savoir Faire balancing Hickman's slightly dusty maudlin vocal against a little, buoyant acoustic guitar driven backing and rickety, jaunty drums from Kristoffer Sonne. Closing track Castle in the Air begins with a simple arrangment and grows delightfully, twinkling bells, slow optimistic drums and a regal melodica line from bassist Ainsley Adams. It has the wide-eyed production charms of Jon Brion and turns a so-so tune into something momentarily adorable.

At the end of this teeny tiny EP you're left with a bizarre conumdrum, everything's been fine and the band seem very interesting, but there's too little here (like a sliver of delicious cake) to really latch onto and ultimately you feel a little under-nourished. A fine prologue, yes, and hopefully plenty more where this came from in the future.