Crafty Simian - The Losing Game

Crafty Simian certainly owe much of their sound to such luminaries as The Buzzcocks, Dirk Wears White Sox era Adam & the Ants; smatterings of XTC (circa White Music) and all served up with a side salad of Blues.

Indeed, this Darlington 5-Piece have taken the best elements of New Wave, jiggled them around and have re-invented the wheel. Fresh, fun and up-beat, this EP is hook laden & guitar driven and is guaranteed to get your feet tapping.

The opening of The Losing Game puts you in mind of the La's; a highly infectious pop/punk tune and probably the stand out track on the EP. Dirty Girls is a more traditional chord sequence with some nice bluesy licks.
The intro of Liar is screaming out to be an Epic, but lunges back to the more comfortable ground of Post Punk, which is a slight shame, as if it was allowed to develop, it may well have been a mini masterpiece.

That said, Crafty Simian, are without doubt one of the most interesting Bands to have emerged in the last year or so. If they keep the momentum up I can see them going far.

Great stuff.

You can check Crafty Simian out on their MySpace.

Reviewed by JayTeE for North East Live   

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