RELEASED 3RD JULY 2019

Favourite Track: Dust on the Ground (Demo)

This album has that classic British rock feel to it, transporting you back to the 60s with the vibe of sex, drugs and rock and roll

I had heard of the North London indie-rock group, Bombay Bicycle Club, but I hadn’t really listened to much of their music at all which is why I was keen to hear what music they make. I’m always fascinated by demos and Eps because I believe they are the more ‘raw’ pieces of work produced by artists that often have a more personal touch to them. Demos 2004-2008, seems fairly self-explanatory in the way that the 7 songs on this EP were crafted somewhere between those dates. The cover art is a photograph of a man playing guitar live somewhere (so less artsy and quirky than many of the album covers we’ve seen but hey).

The first song ‘Always Like This’ is a very short song with an upbeat bassline and very repetitive chorus but then it goes into a very recognisable bass guitar melody. This must have either been used in an advertisement or film…but if not, I’m slightly freaked out because I swear I’ve heard this before. ‘Drugs’ is very rock-y sounding with hard electric guitar being used and strange, creepy synths in the background perhaps to create the effect of being on drugs and the world being a little chaotic because the music composition certainly reflects this with a load of shouting about being “on drugs” and contacting Rolling Stone Magazine about it (I don’t know why). ‘Never Serious’ uses the hi-hat and more of a classical rock drum kit. The melody with the synths and the guitar make this more of a conventional song. You can’t really hear the lyrics very well but there are nice dynamics in this song with some parts loud and noisy and others very chilled out and soft.

‘The Finger’ opens with hard electric guitar and then more of a slower beat from the drum kit that then stops and goes into a plucking guitar melody which then adapts as the pace is built up with some strumming. ‘You Made It’ has a nice catchy tune to it and you could dance to this one. It has this edgy kind of London rock vibe to it which is cool. I can see it being used by a London-focused retro/vintage brand in a campaign. ‘Ode to Lucy’ has quite a 60s kind of feel to it with the use of shakers and dream guitar sounds with chilled out accompanying vocals. Finally, ‘Dust on the Ground’ opens with fast-paced hi-hats and strumming but the actual song seems more put together if you know what I mean. I like the melody of one of the background instruments (electric guitar I think although it sounds like strings) in this song a lot. 

I think this album is best for a summer’s day chilling in a park with friends. It has that vintage British feel to it for sure.