Hampshire might be the epicentre of rock and roll, but Portsmouth trio Is Bliss have been creating an almighty racket in their own backyard this past couple of years. So much in fact that esteemed independent label Club AC30 picked them up last year, putting out their debut EP Velvet Dreams in August 2016.

The band's long awaited follow-up EP The Honeycomb Explosion came out in May, and is one of the finest collections we've heard so far this year. Fusing 60s inspired melodies with effects laden guitars and hazy vocals reminiscent of classic early 90s bands like Ride, Slowdive and Chapterhouse, all five songs on the EP stand out with equal aplomb.

Here, bass player Dean Edwards talks us through each of The Honeycomb Explosion's five majestic pieces...

Someone

With this song we wanted to create a spacey and epic sound - ambient yet heavy. We kept the verses quite minimal to allow the vocals to stand out. As with the rest of the EP, we kept the vocals fairly clean with some reverb to make them drag and sit nicely on top of the fuzzed up bass line. The song is about trying to hide your feelings and healing yourself.

Alive (Baby Come On)

'Alive' is about a girl who used to walk past Jim's workplace, who he crushed on until he found out some dark secrets about her. It's about being hypnotised by a mysterious honey. This is our most dynamic song and we spent a lot of time making sure those choruses were as huge as possible.

Into A Dream

A song about someone who is not who you thought they were and changes your view of life. This is our most groovy song with a strong sitar hook and lots of tambourine to give it that sixties jangly feel. It ends with a full on fuzzed up rampage.

Tomorrow

'Tomorrow' is about karma. It's got a very dark, downbeat vibe with a heavily effected vocal to make it trippy.

Inner Soul

'Inner Soul' is about a girl who has fucked up her life, on a self-destructive path to nowhere. This was put together at the end of the EP recording sessions as we had a spare day. It came together very quickly as the pressure was off, and it turned into one of our favourite recordings.

For more information on Is Bliss visit their Soundcloud page and the Club AC30 website.