Spinto Band

Now I'm not a big fan of bandying around phrases like ‘Soundtrack of the summer', so I'm not going to.

This debut LP was released in the States on an Indie label last summer, and it was evidently soundtrack of that summer enough for Virgin to sign them and bring them over to this side of the wash. Now of course the British have a thriving music scene and the last thing we need is a churned out ‘indie' band to grace our CD collections. And I expect this is the sort of pressure that rode on the Spinto Band's broad shoulders as they released their debut album.

They have handled this pressure effortlessly though, and brought their marks of plaid shirt, kazoo playing geekiness to our stages and have held their own. In fact they have more than held their own and released an album I can thoroughly recommend.

With undoubted influences from the Flaming Lips and They Might Be Giants, their geeky kazoo on ‘Brown Boxes' not only works, but adds a certain ‘je ne sais quoi' to the chemistry of a band who have been playing together since they were young. Tracks like ‘Directly to Helmet' and the beautifully mandolined ‘Oh Mandy' are all solid singles, the remainder lacing up to make a very good debut album. I think the best thing about it is that they were obviously under pressure to produce and they have.

So without ‘bandying' phrases around as promised, it is a very enjoyable sound, and it is also summer. You do the math.