By his own admission, singing doesn't come easily to Gus Garcia. In his native Brazil he started out as a guitarist but subsequently found his voice with the Radiohead tribute band 'Stand By' .
Now based in Mitcham, Surrey, Garcia recorded all the instruments and vocals on this 3 track ep himself.
They sound as if they were written on acoustic guitar and in many ways the latter instrumental embellishments serve to clutter the sound rather than expand upon it.
'Colleagues' is a confusing song that switches awkwardly between pure pop and ska reggae. 'Before The Winter', sounds like a Beck outtake from 'Sea Change' while 'Menace' is the track where the Radiohead influence is most evident. Here Garcia's voice switches from brooding monotone to falsetto as he urges a lover (?) to "bleed with me/stay with me/leave with me/cry with me" etc
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It's not easy to get a firm handle on these quirky songs. They are brimming with good ideas but lack a clear focus. The obscurity of the lyrics have an distancing effect which makes it hard to engage with the tunes.
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