Think of Bristol and we have a tendency to think of the town's inherent dub'n'dance-based culture, so to discover that UNDERCUT hail from this creatively rich metropolis is a nice surprise as they are a resolutely old-skool guitar proposition, who do this epically-inclined slowburning rock stuff with significant reserves of style and power.
"Soul Food Mother", their first proper single, is keening, urgent gear, stuffed with epic aspirations, but thankfully reminding you of the likes of Doves and latterday Feeder rather than the usual Coldplay clones who'll no doubt again come out in droves to celebrate Chris Martin and co's return this year. Whoopee doo. Anyway, on this evidence at least, that won't be too much of a problem for Undercut, who pile on the emotion with discipline and clarity throughout "Soul Food Mother" and it's memorable, urging chorus of "must try harder." Doubt you need to lads, all things considered.
Second tune "Butterfly" demands you stick around too. It's again a slow-burner of some quality, with choppy guitars and a woozily dramatic bassline along the lines of Nirvana's "Come As You Are." Once again, ex-Manics/ Travis collaborator Ian Grimble's production hits paydirt and I like the subtle hint of irony in the chorus when they sing "you tell me I've arrived."
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And talking of irony, the one place Undercut do blot their copybook is with the closing acoustic lament, "Coming Back Down To Earth", where that de rigeur Martin/ Buckley falsetto scourge I thought they'd adroitly avoided rears its' ugly noggin. Oh well, two out of three ain't bad and all that, so let's not hold it against 'em for now.
So a fairly enthusiastic thumbs up, regardless of this late volte face. Besides, legendary producer John Leckie, who was also in the running for Grimble's chair, has been heard to describe "Soul Food Mother" as a "killer hit", and you're not liable to catch this writer disagreeing with the man who produced "The Stone Roses" and Magazine's "Real Life" I can tell you.
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