Saturday Night Gym Club - How To Build A Life Raft

As recently as last summer, Saturday Night Gym Club felt like a band still struggling with who they wanted to be. More obtuse post-rock clashed with beat-heavy electronics, and the effect was rather unsatisfying. Fast forward to this EP, ‘How To Build A Life Raft’, however and such qualms can be set aside, replaced with a band that display not only greater drive but a better appreciation of their own melodic nous.

Opener ‘I Know’ hints at the angular trip-hop of Team Sleep, but ‘A Green Light’ on the other hand boasts stronger melodies and a more clearly-defined structure that better fits their dance-pop inclinations. Where other tracks on the EP tend towards more artful electronica, particularly on ‘Lituya Bay’, it’s other tracks with the same four-to-the-floor beating heart, like ‘How to Build a Life Raft’ that feel the most coherent. Moreover, it’s also these that have probably the greatest ready-made audience, so without meaning it in a derogatory way, I suspect that it’s the style of these tracks that will go on to define the band over future releases.