Flat Party - It’s All Been Done Before

Though their name - a bipartite phrase formed of two quotidien words - might, at face value, suggest a band inclined to the sort of angular post-punk for which the capital has proved fertile ground, Flat Party are altogether more interesting. On second EP ‘It’s All Been Done Before’, they hone in on the best aspects of their January self-titled debut - wry lyrical self-awareness, straight-shooting riffs, and a penchant for flamboyance - to step into a sound which feels distinctively theirs. Opener ‘Circle’ pairs hallmarks of ‘00s indie with frequent dynamic shifts, gang vocals, and utterly unapologetic guitar solos, such that the overall effect is of a grand, almost ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’-type affair. A similar confidence is carried through the project’s remaining four tracks, too: ‘Paranoia/Delicate Dawn’, for example, channels mid-century pop (not dissimilar to Chicago outfit Brigitte Calls Me Baby) and ‘Shotgun’ has the sassy stomp of ‘Parklife’-era Blur. The closing title track, meanwhile, has its big crescendo two-thirds of the way through, electing instead to bid us adieu with a jazz piano outro. ‘It’s All Been Done Before’, as it turns out, is a winking push for originality.