The Human Body EP
Better Looking, 2006
rating: 4/5
reviewer: grantpurdumthegumshoe

Easy as it is to hide the pedigree of a bald-faced imitator with a retro combover and/or psychedelic plugs, Electric Soft Parade are more comfortable with themselves and their sound than umpteen bands of the umpteenth rock "revival." Their career smeared somewhat by limited availability of their albums in the U.S. and other riff-raff, ESP transcend their past to prove you can dig The Beatles and tune into Sun Dial without making a little-kid-in-a-smokejacket ass of yourself. Alex and Tom White don't care if you're listening, but if you are, they want to be ready and randy.

Their savvy distillation of atmospherics and indie rock don't immediately graft themselves to your ear, and that's the best part; give Electric Soft Parade a few spins and their resilience will reel you in and have you flopping on a cold floor. What's more, seven substantial EP tracks is a treat on line with finding two prizes in a crackerjack box. Seeing as each song offers a unique shade to its color wheel, The Human Body EP plays out like a flesh-y skeleton diagram of how to smelt the perfect short-player.

Note hushed, Elliott Smith-ish closer "So Much Love," torqued down a notch for maximum shutting-up-shop finality. Heed opening track "A Beating Heart" bursting through the door with the immediacy of a (good) Doves record and slipping into the hallway for a heady buildup and keyboard segue into a wonderfully gooey chorus of, "There's not one thing/ I'd do it all again." Prop your feet up on your desk and cue "Everybody Wants" next; its even-keeled, summer-day-drive trumpet lines and thick strings will turn your next road trip into a celebration. Then stick around for "Cold World," a delicious graft of Village Green's bopping bass rhythm, an uptempo Kingsbury Manx chorus, and glowing jangle guitar that will remind you more of The Strokes than you want to admit in a snobby indie review. Fuck it.

The glockenspiel and strings of its mid-section, at track two no less, close the case: The Human Body is one of the best releases of the year, EP or otherwise, and hopefully a sign Electric Soft Parade will get a fair shake in the U.S. and beyond. Kudos to Better Looking Records for, in the words of my favorite tambourine man Joel Gion, "usher[ing] this shit in." Lest young people forget rock 'n' roll can be so immediate, this cadaver should be dissected by high school students and singled out for independent study by suits in shady government buildings. Awareness is everything, folks...

1. Beating Heart, A
2. Cold World
3. Stupid Mistake
4. Everybody Wants
5. The Captain
6. Kick In The Teeth
7. So Much Love