Gaffa Tape Sandy – Family Mammal

Brighton-based Gaffa Tape Sandy's latest EP Family Mammal loosely refers to how the trio feels about their family mammals, aka their dogs, but that is open to interpretation. 

Opener Beehive kicks off with an audio recording of a kid expressing his love for 'banging tunes', setting up an EP full of them quite nicely. The rowdy guitar riffs and drum patterns combined with the dual vocals from Kim Jarvis and Catherine Lindley-Neilson show the band are ahead of the game while injecting a little Sonic Youth to their garage vibe. The varying vocal styles of Jarvis and Lindley-Neilson are what gives Gaffa Tape Sandy something out of the ordinary; with an indie aesthetic from the latter's softer vocals and Jarvis' heavier range, they create the perfect garage rockers.

Lead single Headlights rolling into So Dry, a blunt and honest track lead by Jarvis with a noisy chorus and pop-punk screeches. "Generally as a band, we try to keep spitefulness and vehemence out of our songwriting, but sometimes it seeps through and So Dry is a result of that leak," reveal the three-piece, while unapologetically "raising [their] voices anonymously at the people who make [them] mad as hell."

Kill the Chord wraps up the EP perfectly, with a classic rock'n'roll twinkle in its opening followed by a head-bopping bassline and Lindley-Neilson's honey-like vocals, you can only imagine how infectious this would sound live, as she screams: 'I wanna make so much noise!' A track that leaves you  wanting more from this indie-punk, garage trio, hopefully we get it soon.

Listen to: Headlights, So Dry, Kill the Chord