Californian songstress Annie Hardly is a native of the Orange County punk scene - not that you'd know it as this record sounds more like a laconic Breeders draping themselves over something distinctly warm and fuzzy. The only give away for locale is the knowing, American sing-song voice Hardly chants in, emoting over fuzzy guitars and strafes of synths.

This is their debut EP, released in Europe following a sold out pressing in California. Over the five tracks, Annie and her band mate Micah Calabrese create a short but rewarding 14 minutes of blurry (but not Blur-ry) indie pop that's at the very least promising in the long term. Currently, the best of their armoury is the arch Belly croon of lead track 'This Isn't It' and the Fender Jagstang sigh of 'Cordial Invitation'. If Steve Lamacq had played this on the Evening Session a decade ago, you can be assured that Jo Whiley would have made approving comments as she sat next to him.

*please note that Gareth thought about this review, and decided he liked it more than it his words implied and has resultingly knocked the review's score up from 3/5 to 4/5. So there.