Seneca Laines

The House of Love had a song called Shine On. It was an instant indie classic. It was an inspirational song that you could listen to and instantly feel energised, It became a mainstay of Indie discos and was one of those records played in that strange gap between support bands and the main attraction. Like The Goo Goo Dolls more recent hit on the Vodaphone TV commercial, it was just perfect - driving, exciting, melodic and something you could never tire of hearing.

Enough of the past let's talk about the future - Seneca Laines. They (well, S. Laines + friends) start off their first release with a song called don't let it be that has everything that Shine On had - great guitar work, melodies, dynamics. When Goth kids are brought to the doctors by their parents who are worried that they are depressed, the doctor can throw the pills away and prescribe them this Seneca Laines track on a Walkman and order them to take it four times a day. They may be too cool to say thank you, but the half smiles and occasional skips as they walk down the street will give away the effectiveness of this remedy. For really bad cases they can add the second track no hoosier sequel? - it makes the blood surge in the same way.

There are four other songs on the EP, not as immediate but still good - demonstrating further fine musicianship and inventiveness, Cool, approachable, melodic Sonic Youth or an updated early New Order - it doesn't matter what the comparisons you make, this EP demonstrates not just potential but actual achievement. There maybe a bit of room for a more confident mix to bring the vocals further to the front and questions about whether can such brilliance be carried on to album length. But for now, get on over to their website because you can download these songs and hopefully enjoy them as much as I have.