Story Books  - Too Much A Hunter

A couple of sold-out London shows, a slot supporting Bloc Party and a tour with King Krule aren’t bad for a band who’ve only had three releases to date. And now, Kent-raised five-piece Story Books are ready to unleash this four-track EP.

Self-produced, ‘Too Much A Hunter’ opens with ‘Simple Kids’, showcasing a vocal which lies somewhere between Alt-J’s Joe Newman and Marcus Mumford, rich piano chords and a whirling choral descent complete with thoughtful lyrics as front man Kristofer Harris croons, “stay close to your troubles / don’t let them interfere.”

What have we here then? The opening of ‘Knot’ sounds more like the start of a Kinks or Beatles-esque track, all animated guitar strums and clattering drum thuds, before it slows to unveil Harris’ pure, crooning tones and a soaring refrain which seeps into ‘Glory And Growth’. Acoustic guitar slides and minimal percussion make way for the flawless folk-tinged vocal, before returning with vengeance mid-way for a minute-long instrumental breakdown, thrashing guitars and whispering cymbals toppling over each other Grizzly Bear style.

Ending with pre-released ‘All Those Arrows’, its seemingly sorrowful lyricism cascades into an instantly hummable refrain as Harris croons ‘I cast my burden / on everyone,’ we can certainly say the debut effort from Story Books is by no means a burden, in fact it’s a pleasure.