Compared to their rather muddy early recordings, the most substantial release so far by sprightly Leeds quartet Wintermute sounds absolutely incredible, emergent Bridlington super-producer James Kirkbright using his studio expertise to do justice to the razor-sharp musicianship of these four fresh-faced young men. At six tracks it’s certainly a hearty dose of their curiously mid-Atlantic sound, but given room to breathe that sound proves itself an alchemical delight you‘re unlikely to run out of patience with; articulately ferocious like At The Drive-In, nimble and lithe like Battles, layered and intense like Interpol. Customary set-opener ‘Bad Company In A Sauna’ kicks off proceedings and succinctly introduces us to the tools of Wintermute’s particular trade - gorgeous, intertwining guitar lines, rippling breakdowns and Dan Howard‘s strident vocals. Indeed, if emotional restraint is your bag you’d do well to stay clear of this band - as a live entity their overflowing passion often has them seemingly on the brink of bursting into tears and that passion is faithfully reproduced here. The hooks save them though - ’Dead Or Not He Was Wearing Sunglasses’ is a lesson in how to construct a fine, fist-pumping chorus and closer ‘Jambon! Jambon!’, although relatively new, is arguably their greatest achievement so far. In truth these songs are still a little too one-note and weighed down by their evident influences to be truly classic-sounding, but as stepping stones go this EP has it absolutely cracked.

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