So you've gone to the effort of writing and recording seven tracks for an EP, and what do you call said EP? Well blow me down if that didn't take all of three seconds to settle on. Shame, really, as Querelle, and indeed Querelle, are/is worthy of high praise unbecoming of an act short of on-paper creativity.
The trio have been mainstays on London's indie circuit for as long as I can remember, but the time spent shuffling from one piss-stinking dive to the next has proved to be well spent, as the opening brace of 'Shanty Town' and 'Sore' are worth the cost of this EP alone. The former is an unusually gentle and delightfully melodic introduction to a band renowned for their unbridled sonic exuberance, live at least. The latter is a little more straightforward Querelle effort, full of screeching guitars and stamped-into-pulp pedal work. It's worth saying that these songs sound a lot fuller and richer in the live environment, but that's hardly a criticism - name me a single rock band that's not more exhilarating live and I won't want to hear them.
The lyrics aren't always as memorable as the instantaneously gratifying music - 'Insect-o-cutor' wants to be a call-out to the indie underground, coaxing them to rise up, but instead sounds like The Wannadies' Pär Wiksten clashing awkwardly against Black Eyes' stutter-punk cacophony - but Querelle is a pretty riotous romp throughout, and one that should see its makers finally pull themselves out of the outsider mire and onto bigger and brighter stages.
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7Mike Diver's Score