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Sky Larkin

Today (perhaps more than past days, perhaps not) it’s very easy to bandy around expressions such as “DIY ethics” and “art pop” but Sky Larkin are a band that seem to deserve such praising slogans. On their last tour the band (Katie, Doug and Nestor) asked fans to bring mixtapes to swap with them at gigs and their gig posters look like they’ve ripped them right out of their art work books. Mildly eccentric (counting their van– named “horse the van”- as a band member) and creators of wonderful summery pop, Sky Larkin seem to be making quite a name for themselves.

“One of Two” starts with almost awkward, jumpy guitars before settling into the verse and when the chorus kicks in, you know it’s kicked in. With soaring vocals and melodies, this song could make even Victor Meldrew prance around with daisies in his hair like a pixie on pills. Sky Larkin and their disjointed, beautiful take on pop makes the sun come right out of the speakers whatever the weather’s like outside.

Like cups of tea, talking constantly about the weather and dirty pick ‘n’ mix sweets, Sky Larkin are very British. They mix both picnics-on-the-lawn cuteness and eccentric, battering of the liver on a weeknight mentalities. Live, they turn into raging, hyperactive monsters of pop with a great mix of guitars and keyboards providing the backing to Katie’s sweet vocals.

“Keepsakes” sounds like an old school gameboy having a panic attack before recovering and dancing the night away in a student nightclub. Songs like this, and “Summit” are among the most glorious, least pretentious indie pop created in years.

Unusually for modern music, the presence of female singer/guitarist/keyboard thing fiddler (Katie) is not overplayed. Sky Larkin don’t seem to be aiming to be different by having a (shock! horror!) girl in the band, Katie’s vocals just work perfectly with the music. Many female artists seem to be stuck with certain preconceptions with their music but this does not seem to be the case for Sky Larkin.

The politics of music aside, Sky Larkin are defiantly one of the best unsigned bands around and seeing them live is strongly recommended. Because of their studies and exams, they’re not playing too many gigs right now. However, they are playing dot to dot and will no doubt be touring much more during the summer.

www.myspace.com/skylarkinskylarkin

One of Two

Summit