Sometimes it’s just the little snippet of an overheard sentence that sets your spidey sense tingling, or the vocal tone of a passing remark that contains an undertow of charged excitement.
Within the space of 15 minutes, during the early afternoon, at this year’s Homegrown Festival, Team Source was literally bombarded with such moments and all about one band. Realising something was going on, we skipped down the hill to find the Pipeline as busy as we have ever seen it, with the venue queue thick and running downstairs into the bar. Too late. Since then, day job and illness have thwarted further attempts to right this wrong.
A chance encounter in Osees mosh pit has yielded fruit though, and oh what beautiful stunning fruit it is: a preview copy in our e-mail inbox of ‘Garage Frock!’, the new EP by Oral Habit.
Even with the frankly bobbins sound quality of soundcloud to contend with, the sheer quality of what is on offer shines through. A melting pot of The Strokes, Ty Segall, the aforementioned Osees, the Charlatans and Revolver-era Beatles that leaps from the speakers and claws its way into your head, heart and groin, all at the same time.
This is Rock n Roll, baby. This is unquestionably the real deal. It’s hard to pick a favourite track. Is it the sexy guitar solo and skittering drums of ‘Garage Frock!’? Is it the slamming riff of ‘Sauerkraut’? Is it the euphoria of the appropriately named ‘I’m Free’? Is it the Pavementesque start of ‘The Coast’ that builds into a soaring seventies guitar monster, reminiscent of those best bits of Oasis that make you forget how much you normally hate them? Perhaps its the fact that all four tracks are so so astonishingly good.
To celebrate the release of this soon to be classic 7 inch, Oral Habit will be performing an in-store at the Family Store on Kensington Gardens, following the sad demise of the beautiful Family Store Records.
Just to make sure we get in, the event starts at 7.30pm. Ok, Ok, we’re blatantly lying. It starts at 6.30. It will be full. It will be incredible. Team Source are getting the new favourite band klaxon ready. It is about to get some serious use. See you down the front.
Oral Habit at the Family Store
Thursday 10th July – 6.30pm
Buy Garage Frock EP: here