HOODED FANG - CLAP / PINKUNOIZU - PARABOLIC DELUSIONS
Vinyl. Full Time Hobby

A split 7 inch? That takes me back! In this case, it’s a showcase for Full Time Hobby’s newest signings, and is a mixed bag.

Hooded Fang offer up a jangly, bouncy slice of pop that is either a nostalgic throwback to Eighties Indie pop or a sign that the genre hasn’t moved on very much in three decades – possibly a bit from column A, a bit from column B. It’s cheerily pleasant, marred by strangulated vocals – and I’m sure hardened Indie fans will tell me I’m missing the point saying that – and both catchy and inconsequential. Still, I’d like to hear more from this lot.

Pinkunoizu are a band I’ve dismissed here on Strange Things already, but this track offers up a pop sensibility that suggests the band might have more going for them that previously thought. It’s all over the place, but in a quite agreeable way, blending J-Pop, Eurotrash soundtracks and an infectious pop sensibility. I fear it’ll be something of a one-off, but hopefully the band will find new meaning in this sound and expand on it.

DAVID FLINT