Nottingham’s post-punk/emo/spazzy outfit Dead Spex aren’t a group I’ve come across before, so arriving with an open mind (read: expecting dross) I was pleasantly surprised when I found what initially sounded like a smelting of This Aint Vegas, Les Savy Fav, but with spazzier/harsher vocals and edgier, just-the-right-side-of-grating guitars, more akin to something like Gallows, to be honest. I know I’ll be lambasted on c-zine and the like for that last comment, but so be it.
Naff title aside, this a decent little three track release. I haven’t got the giant wafro and enormously thick sweater required to carry it off, but I can see myself shuffling around to the eponymous opener. Pop structures and an easily graspable couple of hooks provide instant familiarity, but they’re nicely married to awkward, sharp squeaking guitars, which often give way to something of a nicely contrasting tempo.
Something in ‘Swan Song’ reminds me of Bloc Party – I think it’s the bridge, but I may be mistaken. Either way, it suits what the band are trying to do and frankly ‘No Soap Radio’ is more of the same. The production isn’t fantastic (even for distinctly underproduced post-punk, the drums are more than a little flat), but all in all there’s more than a glimmer of promise here.