Le Reno Amps - The Stand Off EP

Le Reno Amps nail their colours firmly to the mast of 'clever irony' with EP opener The Stand Off, a self-aware alt-country/indie mash-up that sounds like Spiral Stairs plugging in his beaten-up strat in service of Weezer. Golden Futures continues in this vein and could be They Might be Giants covering Johnny Cash, but with the sin and liquor replaced with intricate cardigans. EP highlight Liars sees a change of pace to a slower acoustic number, although the real irony is the Amp's straight-laced cover of Beck's Rowboats. While Beck seemingly encodes a perma-smirk in the DNA of his songs, this Decemberist-like take sees the Glasgow-based outfit finding their feet.