LITTLE BARRIE - Pin That Badge EP - 2006 - Review

LITTLE BARRIE Pin That Badge EP (2006) Review
Rating: 5/5
Tracks: Pin That Badge/ Green Eyed Fool/ Cash In /Why Don't You Do It?
Soundbite: /Some call me bitter but I like the taste/

When you're nodding like the Churchill advert dog within a few seconds of a song starting, you know you're listening to a winner. The opening guitar riff of this EP's title track is more insistent than a toddler in a sweet shop and after two bars Little Barrie drop a breakbeat heftier than Biffa Bacon's mum - complete with rolling pin and five o clock shadow. This band draw from slightly older influences than the current crop of trendy UK rock bands but unlike those others they combine their influences (rather than imitate) to come up with something new. In LB's case it's the combination of Kinks-like sixties blues rock with Meters-like funky rhythms which has characterized their previous output and three of the tracks on this EP. It seems like Marc Bolan got invited to the party too on 'Green Eyed Monster' which sounds like a garage-rock version of T-Rex's 'Twentieth Century Boy'. 'Cash In' features a spooky wailing harmonica behind the guitars while Barrie lays in lyrically to the musical sell-outs and 'Why Don't You Do It?' is the beautiful slow(ish) one that showcases Mr Cadogan's not inconsiderable guitar skills perfectly. Occasionally my mind is troubled by weighty thoughts like why people still consider nuclear power an option, why you only see really shabby five pound notes nowadays and why Little Barrie aren't more famous. Maybe we'll never know but on the strength of this EP, I would be prepared to bet five pounds (in the form of a shabby note, obviously) that Little Barrie's second album (out January) will be massive.

Listen to Little Barrie Pin That Badge