Showing sonic solidarity with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Beat Happening and Pixies amongst others, on new single, Toy Trucks, self-proclaimed jangle rockers Mall Goth have crafted a wonderful exercise in guitar driven, retro-futurist indie pop.
The band wear their influences like well-tailored clothes; but perhaps more than any other, it is the shadow of The Pastels jangling approach to song-craft that comes most proudly to the fore, with the song’s reverb heavy, twee-pop vocals and hazy post-punk energy instantly enjoyable.
This is not a mere C86 indie time capsule however, despite the 80s jangle and Glasgow-indebted, chaotic-pop sentiment. Centred around the elemental, layered vocals and jagged, rhythmic guitar of Ella Kasper, Mall Goth summon up a ramshackle clatter and melodiousness of their very own and create an undeniably glorious racket that shows a clear knack for a memorable tune. There is space a-plenty in the production and the layered voices and hook-driven chorus result in a pleasingly familiar but still surprising two and a half minutes.
Good songwriting will always out-way a band’s influences anyway and that is presented here in spades. Released on May 17th on Paintbox Records, Toy Trucks is certainly worth a repeated spin.
Written by M. A. Welsh