Southampton isn’t particularly well known for its musical capabilities—sure, they have Britain’s Best Small Venue and Band of Skulls (and maybe Frank Turner and Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills if you’re really going to go for tenuous links)—but beyond that it’s seemingly devoid of musical talent… Or it was.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere this year, Southampton has given us Dolomite Minor, Spectral Park and New Desert Blues. And as if that wasn’t enough, they’ve now brought us Mr Tom—a band who, judging from this debut EP, have great things ahead of them.
Title track ‘King & Queen’ has all the signs of an indie-pop masterpiece in the making. With the intertwining of two different insatiable guitar lines and a pivotal, clear-cut bass line it’s undeniably built to get a crowd up and going. ‘Hook, Line & Sinker’ keeps the momentum going—with a chorus that’s pretty much impossible to not sing along to.
‘C’est La Vie’ is the only track on the EP that shows a slightly more restrained, mature side to Mr Tom. It’s steeped in an almost nostalgic reflection which still carries the need for movement—but is more of a sedate sway to the other tracks ‘get up and dance’ feeling. Although it is a superb track, tacking it between the more upbeat numbers seems a little jarring and it would’ve in my mind suited a closer far better.
However, this running order issue aside, it is ‘Dead of the Night’ that is the stand out track on the EP. The bass line and drumming is relentless and alongside the more terse tone to the vocals it gives the track an extra level of powerful vigour that makes it grab your attention a little bit more.
King & Queen isn’t exactly reinventing the indie-pop wheel—but it doesn’t need to. Here Mr Tom have proven that their exciting live show can be translated to record and retain the same energy and enthusiasm, making it almost impossible not to fall in love with it.
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