Comprising Beal (bass/vocals), Biff (guitar/vocals/organ), Jim (guitar/yelping) and drummer Garrick, industrious Derby quartet THE LITTLE EXPLORER have already released one album and shared stages with notables such as THIS AIN’T VEGAS, APPLESEED CAST and JETPLANE LANDING.
A respectable pedigree then, and this fine new clear vinyl 7” single suggests they continue to develop artistically away from the hothouse glare of near-ish neighbour Manchester. “Chair Legs” is an impressive calling card: busy, scurrying post-punk/pop with plenty of angularity and the expected Math-rock changes as well as a pop pulse that endorses the goodness of The Buzzcocks as well as Brit hardcore heroes like Bob Tilton and Death By Milkfloat. It’s wholly instrumental until the two minute mark when Beal’s forlorn vocals kick in with support from Jeff’s ‘yelpings’, which are of the ‘starving Lovecraftian monster’ school and every bit as good as that description suggests.
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Nominal flipside “Air! Displace This Smoke” finds drummer Garrick pirouetting on his hi-hat and rolling around his kit like the Mexican jumping beans are kicking in, while the guitars remain curiously smooth by contrast. The controlled assault suits them, though, and – with a second album due before the year’s out - it seems The Little Explorer will continue to boldly go into post-rock’s shark-infested waters. On the strength of these two sprightly tunes they’ll not need to pack lifebelts, either.
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