MODERN SKY 26th April 2019
An intense and heavy duty post-punk EP from SPQR is a startling offering from this Liverpool band. The opener – ‘Josephine’ – has heavy rubbery funky bass, clave-heavy percussion, tense and shouted vocals, while the backing chorus adds contrasting sweetness. It’s that white-boy intense funk and leaves you all tied up and washed out at the same time. ‘Our Mother’s Sons’ is much shoutier and heavier but keeps up a forward progress. ‘Slowly’ is mostly, um, slower, with that slow/fast thing built in and less of a stand-out except the vocals, which bring back happy memories of Noughties band JJ72. ‘This Gore’ is nicely structured with a point where it takes flight.
This is a promising young band. Let’s hope they can avoid slipping into any comfortable ruts and maintain the variety shown in these four songs.