Have you ever heard of Andrew Bird’s evil little brother? No? Apparently the Chicago born singer-songwriter has family here in Oxford and I have a sneaking suspicion that they may have something to do with local band Above Us The Waves. Of course I jest, but judging by their song ‘Mind For Business, Body For Sin’ such elaborate comparisons, no matter how fictional, give you some idea of their sound. The two musical styles bookending the song are interestingly disparate. The violin-heavy opening is defiantly olde-worldly, the musicans’ backs turned nonchalantly to modernity; in contrast, the grandiose post-rock ending provides quite a visceral jolt. As a whole, the song is bright and well-written, with Joe Harrison’s ecstatic howl, just as things get heavy, sticking with you once the song has departed.
That said, this is the best song of this collection by a long shot, the others offering a half-realised take on scary alternative rock (imagine Liars fronted by Johnny Flynn). ‘Untitled 1’ is modestly operatic, wailing guitars and a very over excitable bass drum to the fore. ‘Bullshit, You Can Be A Mine’ is a pretty underwhelming attempt at a Mogwai-style instrumental, but ‘Five Put On Their Rubber Soled Shoes’ and ‘Utah’ bring the song-writing back into some sort of focus. Sometimes AUTW have the tendency to amaze with their ambitiously grand sound and contrasting styles, but often there is too much sonic confusion with the bass, percussion and guitars competing for your attention, clumsily falling over each other in the scramble to be heard. Nevertheless, judging by the promise of that first track, AUTW have all the ingredients to become one of Oxford’s most interesting young alternative acts.