Hornblower Brothers - Give and Recievers/ Ghost of Keroua

Based in Brighton, wide-eyed quintet Hornblower Brothers release this single on the back of a stonkingly well-received, self-released debut EP, ‘Adventures in the National Geographic’. Possessing a strong DIY ethic and operating a mini cottage industry – they book their own gigs, and conceive photos and artwork with the help of their friends – they join the ranks of the Static Brothers and Sisters, and their adroit take on sprightly and charming folk-pop is a joy to behold. The band have already received plenty of airplay, with Steve Lamacq previously picking them as his Unsigned Band of the Week, and since then they’ve got radio sessions under their belt for Jon Kennedy at XFM and BBC 6Music’s Marc Riley, who listed the buzzing quintet’s ‘Android With a Heart’ among his favourite songs of 2009.Fast-forward to their latest release, ‘Give and Receivers’, which is a fine example of their song writing nous and literate bent, all shot through with a dash of wry humour, like Belle and Sebastian on a caravanning holiday with Half Man Half Biscuit. Deliciously off-kilter, guitars cut and clang, while at the core of the song is a shuffling, folk-inspired kernel with insistent drums and a nagging melody, which ebbs, flows and dissipates in less than three minutes.On the flipside, ‘Ghost of Kerouac’ is indie-folk as if re-imagined by Joe Meek, with wheezing lo-fi electronics underpinning a breezy pop melody while a lithe, rolling baseline lends a slight whiff of surf pop as this vignette races breathlessly to a climax, ending with a sweet coda and sun-kissed harmonies.Imagine Todd Rundgren getting his hands on some South East buskers and doing what he always wanted at those XTC sessions.These two slices of dashing, shrink-wrapped and pocket-sized folk-pop come on seven-inch vinyl. Catchy scratchy clever annoyingly upbeat avant wonky pop that will make children sing, animals sing and bad people sing!

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