EP REVIEW: After Dark – Indigo Bay
From Grimsby comes INDIGO BAY with their debut effort After Dark. Self-coined as “Grimsby grit”, their music aims to, in their own words, “[eschew] lad culture in favour of earnest vulnerability and unashamed working-class ambition”. More than anything they want their music to stand out from the negative image of their hometown, and given the support given from BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, they’re on their way to receiving their recognition.
Opening with Bats we are greeted with a funky start that somehow feels like a mash-up between COLDPLAY’s Adventure Of A Lifetime and THE STROKES‘ entire discography – a strange comparison but it’s the only way to describe it. Things switch up to something more indie-rock with vocals that feel upbeat yet philosophical, and there’s something ethereal about this track. Again, it’s a weird comparison but that’s our best way to describe it. If anything, it sounds like something that would be featured in the soundtrack of the first season of Skins.
Bottled goes down the more guitar-driven pop-rock route similar to that of THE NEIGHBOURHOOD and THE 1975. It’s that perfect blend of grunge and dirty pop seen in the 2014 era of Tumblr – not an insult, just an observation. Trust us, we love it! Paper Cuts continues with the standard happy instruments that make you want to dance but sad lyrics that make you want to lie down and cry. Again, we love it. In a nutshell, it starts out with you bopping along until the first line comes along and stops you in your tracks.
Our main issue with this EP is that it’s too short – we need more. Each track stands out and makes you feel something, whether happy, sad or nostalgic, or maybe a combination of all three; it’s just perfect in that way. The remaining tracks of the EP include Lost, which has a guitar style that combines both indie-rock and emo, and Say What You Wanna Say, which is a fun and upbeat track and that just makes you feel good.
This is a strong debut from INDIGO BAY. It’s a lovely EP that makes you feel happy and nostalgic. It’s reminiscent of both teen dramas in the 2000s, such as Skins and The Inbetweeners, but also the age of the internet in the early 2010s that you would’ve seen on Tumblr. We only wish there was more.
Rating: 8/10
After Dark is out now via Heist Or Hit Records.
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