Raven Beats Crow - Zola Budd

Don’t you know about the birds? If not, my best advice for you would be to rectify this pretty quickly, because Raven Beats Crow are most definitely worth your time. Even though their name might suggest conflict (avian conflict, obviously), this quartet, Londoners all, know what they’re about.

There’s no confusion here on ‘Zola Budd’, just twenty minutes of distinctive, electro-tinged psychedelic pop that marks RBC out as a group deserving of special attention. The pace is set with the infectious energy of ‘Escalator’, a two-note bassline and powerful drums. The soundstage is packed, too: there’s so much going on that the EP is lent its own kind of intensity.

The quartet went away for a year before this EP ever saw the light of day, and it’s quite evident that a lot of time was spent on crafting it. Everything has been meticulously worked over: six-minute centrepiece ‘S.U.N.’ is quite a great deal more complex than it sounds at first, ensuring that the move into more laid-back territory pays off.

However, it is songs like the breathlessly uptempo closer ‘Chrome Yellow’ that indicate the real amount of potential Raven Beats Crow possess, combining a remarkable pop sensibility with a good dollop of weirdness. ‘Zola Budd’, as a whole, goes off on tangents frequently enough, but all this just adds to the charm that lies at its heart.