Big Troubles - Sad Girls (7" vinyl)

Slumberland continue their policy of only releasing bands with names the same as or similar to 80's indie outfits - Brilliant Colours (Brilliant Corners), Weekend (Weekend) and now Big Troubles (Any Trouble). What we have is bright, jangly 80's indie with vocals somewhere between the guy from Maps and a leaking gas pipe. The chorus is a rather elegant, catchy thing that could get stuck in your head for days if you let it. Towards the end of this two minute pop gem you get the rarest of things: a preposterous key change. The excellent production is courtesy of that king of the mixing desk Mitch Easter (REM, Let's Active, Pavement) - great to see Mitch back in the hotseat where he belongs.  The non-Mitch B side is a similarly tuneful burst of noisy autumnal indie rock with stop start rhythms and inventive progressions. Generally I despair at the whole retro indie thing but I like these lot and will wait with interest for their forthcoming long player.