VOXTROT Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives (Playlouderrecordings)

Not that you’d guess from their music – a kind of perky hybrid of Belle And Sebastian and The Smiths – or their lyrics, which include such ticklish lines as “We had The Field Mice playing on the hi-fi” – but Voxtrot are actually from Texas. Ahead of their eponymous full-length debut, due any day now, this five track EP from 2006 makes as good an introduction to them as any. The title track and “Fast Asleep” slam hectically and gloriously downhill on waves of Johnny Marr jangle, and lyrics like “I believe in love/I’m married to my work” and “Baby, I’d leave you for the person you used to be” seem cloned from Stuart Murdoch’s DNA. Maybe there’s even a touch of Dexys Midnight Runners’ soul drama to “Soft & Warm”, which rounds out a fine primer.

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