EP Review: Pophits & Coffee

You must give this Dunedin quartet plenty of kudos for their name, as I don’t think I have smiled so much on seeing one since I came across Mice on Stilts years back. This is the debut release from Jack Ringhand (vocals, guitar), Ayumu Kobayashi (bass, vocals), Tom Corrigan (organ, vocals) and Ryan Finnie (drums, vocals). They describe themselves as a pop-sludge rock band, but there is very little in terms of sludge, and even when they slow it down, we are only possibly getting into stoner, unless they are a very different outfit live from what I am currently listening to.

Putting that to one side, what these three songs give us is an insight into a band who have definitely captured the Dunedin sound, and have combined that with strong guitar, a powerful rhythm section, pop hooks and an organ. Yep, a solid to goodness organ. Outside the jazz scene, there are very few bands who want to use the good old Hammond B3 (one reason is that it weighs a ton, not fun to move up and down stairs), so I am guessing it is a modern equivalent, but it has that classic sound which Keith Emerson loved so well.

This is often higher in the mix than the guitar, with the rhythm section keeping all together and Jack’s vocals over the top. Opener Demons has a real alt-country feel to it, combined with rock and long held-down organ chords. It has a real groove and is just plain fun. Distorted bass and guitar take more of a lead on Recognise which is way more poppy in nature, with Jack’s vocals sometimes reminding me of Feargal Sharkey and I can imagine John Peel loving this band back in the day. The arrangements seem quite simple, but there is quite a deal of complexity as well, with Tom putting himself front and centre or disappearing into the background, depending on the moment. RIP Kitty makes me think of a cop movie soundtrack each time I play it, with Jack singing slightly lower, picking a guitar line with the organ more in the background.

There is a definite power in what they do, and they can explode in a frenzy when the time is right, and I am sure they are a much heavier beast in concert than how they come across on this release. This is a solid introduction from the band and I certainly they make it up to Auckland at some point as I would love to see them at Ding Dong. This EP is easily available on Bandcamp and is well worth grabbing a listen.