The Dirt Tracks

Being described as Spain’s foremost live band is not the biggest selling hook for The Dirt Tracks, evoking as it does clichéd images of clicking heels, twanging acoustic guitar or flamenco dancers. However, that’s obviously not what The Dirt Tracks sound or like.

Instead, the five-piece band (featuring someone on ‘sample’) have honed in on the sound of early Radiohead and Muse for this new EP. The former are particularly present on the third track The Square, with its haunting vocal and edgy guitar, sounding like an off-cut from The Bends, before a synth fuzz takes it into Muse territory.

House of Dolls is even better, six minutes of epic space rock, which overshadows the actual single here, Never Been to Mars. That’s a much more simple affair, with a catchy chorus and slightly schoolyard lyrics “never been to mars, never seen the stars”.

The band are in the UK touring right now and given their reputation in Spain and Germany they are probably impressive live.