The Little Ones - Sing Song EP (Astralwerks)
3/5
By: Chris O'Toole
The Sing Song EP is life by simple rules; rules written in chalk on a school blackboard and religiously applied. They are the rules of Indie Pop and the Little Ones have studied them, understood their meaning, and applied them to the creation of their music. The result is a pop record, reminiscent of the American West Coast of the late 1960s but infused with thoroughly modern sensibilities. And whilst never straying too far from the blueprint established for them by their predecessors, including the Zombies and Beach Boys, the band have developed a bright, airy style all of their own; as though the stereotype of Californian living had been distilled and turned into a sound.
By amplifying their imagination through their music the Little Ones have created a fantasy world with the 'Sing Song' EP; a world to which they can escape when the tumult of reality takes too greater toll. This world is crafted from beautiful simplicity and is home to colourful carnivals and endless summer days. Everybody is invited to the party. You can imagine the score to this world written out in crayon on the staff, the instruments made from candy cane and Brighton rock and the band floating amiably along in a cartoon landscape.
However this simplicity and humour does not to detract from the Little Ones deceptive depth; sand castles, for example, are also simple in design and execution, but if you look beyond the surface a world of intricate, interlocking particles becomes apparent. This is also the case with the 'Sing Song' EP. The songs are a collage of overlapping layers, crafted with such a degree as to appear effortless, but elaborate nonetheless. The self effacing humility of the band camouflages their natural talent for crafting exceptional pop music, and the glee they bring to the task is heart warming.
Then, these tracks are not pre-packaged fluff; these songs grow and expand over their durations, sometimes reaching 5 mins, allowing for a greater depth than say Architecture in Helsinki. Whilst other contemporaries, including Saturday Looks Good To Me and Boy Least Likely To sing from the same song sheet to produce more overt pop, the Little Ones have the imagination and variety to maintain interest over a great period.
Proof that sticking to the rules has its advantages.
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