2004 was quite a year for Scottish pop. Aside from the chart-straddling success of Franz 'omnipresent' Ferdinand, W&H found plenty to be excited about with releases by Dogs Die In Hot Cars, Driverdown, Viva Stereo, The Needles and the stupidly under-rated Deckard.
And, while we're barely three weeks into the new year, it seems things are hotting up north of the border once again. We've already been waxing lyrical about One Records' new acts Ludovico and El Presidente, and now here are JUPITER AND TEARDROP for our consideration.
This four-track EP suggests this serious-looking quartet will be tough to ignore too, as these tracks all simmer nicely in their own, well-turned juices and taste likeably bittersweet as they go down.
"Bring Me Down" itself is the lead cut and it's soon making like piano-led, waltz-time drama pop in the Coldplay/ Snow Patrol vein. Thankfully without ever sounding horribly derivative. Musically, it's surrounded by lots of good touches such as the way the chorus swooshes in, shadowed by the vibrato guitar and the way the slightly dissonant guitar solo gives it that extra bite. Really rather fine, all told.
The trio of attendant tunes also impress. Frontman Geoff Martyn has previously toured the US with Aimee Mann's guitarist Michael Lockwood, and his melodic knack runs through tunes like "Moonshine" and the closing "Something Good". Both are from the semi-acoustic school of slowburning singer/ songwriting with the band fleshing out expertly. "Moonshine" is a song of love and hope, climaxing with a chorus ("Well, I hope this moment never ends and I hope we never die") that we can all relate to, while on "Something Good", Martyn stretches vocally, including a little of the seemingly de rigeur falsetto a la Jeff Buckley. "My Lonely Heart", meanwhile is another slow, languid waltz-time set-piece and not a million miles from the sort of thing Magnet's Even Johansen might accomplish.
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All of which adds up to an EP of taste and refinement to these ears. Sure, it's no earthshaker in terms of sonic innovation, but it's certainly got convincing, well-crafted songwriting all sewn up. Sometimes that really is enough.
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