News Two Inch Punch

There’s nothing that grabs the imagination quite like a twist on an old genre tag by a new artist. Whilst Brother’s attempt at making ‘gritpop’ work is still pending and, hopefully, failing, there’s something a lot more exciting about an act looking to have their work labelled as ‘lovestep’.

In truth, though, London’s Two Inch Punch doesn’t need to rely on gimmicks or clever PR work to ensure coverage like the current crop of lad-rock revivalist. The work couldn’t be further away from the dull, guitar heavy sounds that the NME seems to be desperate to push, anyway. The work of a ‘frustrated soul / RnB singer’, influences are listed as far and wide as The Beatles through to Jimmy Cliff, this kaleidoscope of seminal acts go towards informing the work of one of the most forward-thinking beat makers working in the UK today.

It takes less than ten seconds to fall in love with standout track ‘Love You Up’, the gritty backing beat teaming up with adventurous, wandering synth to devastating effect. By the time that the vocals come in, you’re already weak at the knees, infatuation setting in not much longer afterwards.

Even in the electronic scene now, there’s a lot of acts too content to make tracks that sound either jaded or despondent and downbeat, but this is positively euphoric, a triumph. It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been working in the music industry during the past few years – Two Inch Punch counts Lil’ Wayne, Little Boots and I Blame Coco amongst the people they’ve collaborated with. The fact that this kind of quality has managed to slip under the radar for this long, though, has to be cause for concern.

+++ Love You Up. (DEMO) —- by T.I.P