Skiptrace - Skiptrace (Train Wreck Music)

There's something about the name Skiptrace that seems vaguely familiar. Most people I know seem to think they have heard the name someplace before, and this means they have half the battle won already. They have a catchy name, and this probably doesn't count for much, but the folder this promo came in was mighty impressive as well.

But we're here for the music not the packaging and thankfully someplace on this shiny disc there is music that is definitely worth talking about. With a sound that can be summed up fairly accurately under the term melodic indie-rock, Skiptrace have also mastered the big build up, wall of sound approach to songwriting. 'Open hands' welcomes us with its Foo Fighters-esque opening and is the perfect gambit to suck us in.

Recorded with two different producers in three different states around America this demo/EP doesn't sound like a band that has only been together since late 1999. 'Where you're thrown', with it's ongoing build-up, is a lesson in dynamics and sound. It could easily have been lifted kicking and screaming from The Frames. The fade in, fade out ending is the perfect way to tie things up after the wall of sound, aural attack that precedes it.

After the Smashing Pumpkins broke up, they left a very big void to be filled. Skiptrace may someday fill it.

Ken McGrath