Enumclaw - Save The Baby

While the bluster that comes with self-describing as “the best band since Oasis” is of levels even Liam G would find impressive, it’s also a statement that shows an obvious and tangible level of ambition. And ambition is something Enumclaw evidently have in swathes, especially on this, their full-length debut. ‘Save The Baby’ is decisively from a ‘90s college rock lineage; the likes of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ and ‘Can’t Have It’ a noisier take on the kind of thing that made Pavement returning heroes this summer. There’s just as much a nod to various waves of emo, too – early in the title track, and more recent strains when (one imagines, in an entirely self-aware manner) Aramis Johnson rhymes “It hurt so bad” with “I wish I had a dad.” Yet this isn’t a record solely in thrall of what came before. Where slacker revivalists are often known to dial down the hi-fi, Enumclaw’s first has them using multiple layers at all times - under one, a shimmering synth-like sound; another, slide guitar. Sometimes it’s vocals, with screams that threaten to spill over, or guitars quietly fizzing, as if to echo the bubbling frustration of their protagonists. It’s a thrilling ride.