deep tan - creeping speedwells

A few years back and London bands vaguely loitering around the post-punk world tended towards the belligerent and shouty; in more recent months, the trend has been towards speak-sing detachment delivered with an arched eyebrow and pithy turn of phrase. It’s their complete removal from either of these sounds, then, that makes deep tan such an appealing prospect. Full of spidery basslines and an undercurrent of insidious danger, ‘creeping speedwells’ is simultaneously inviting and intimidating: the first steps into the darkened back room of the party. Over pinging guitar notes and singer Wafah’s insouciant vocal, recent single ‘camelot’ details a hedonistic night on the tiles, while ‘Hollow Scene’ flutters around a subtle but looming sense of dread; early single ‘deepfake’ meanwhile harks back to to Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the arty goths of yore. If there’s an area for improvement it’s that, while the minimal nature of much of ‘creeping speedwells’ is an artistic choice, there are moments when the production feels a bit thin. Still, for a debut EP, the trio already have a clear and exciting identity - they can hammer out the details later.