Oui Legionnaires

As the opening track of this EP slowly slithers into life it's evident that this EP is going to be something exciting.

It would be impossible to put Oui Legionnaires into one musical genre as there are so many components combined into their sound. Throughout the EP, different styles take the foreground as it flows together, this is obviously a band who listen to and understand alternative music.

Angular guitars are combined with intriguing synthesisers and raw emotive vocals to create a catchy individual sound with a definite DIY edge.

This EP will be a piece of music which divides opinions as there so many aspects to like and dislike. Personally the post punk indie rock dynamic combines something that I am very interested in hearing more of. - Thirsty & Miserable Fanzine

A few years ago, boisterous indie may have been the flavour of Gloucestershire but recently it's been a little malnourished. Cheltenham vanguard Oui Legionnaires, clearly not one for trends, look to drag it back into the front-line.

'Airships', their recently released debut EP, is a towering metallic wall of slicing telecaster, cemented with tight, fuzzy bass, popping, splashy drums and a boyish indie confidence that defies the songs' lost and world-weathered subject matter, Chris's voice, a cocktail of Ryan Jarman and Conor Oberst wobbles precariously at times, and sounds like it's been recorded firmly in the red, but so what? What would The Velvet Underground have sounded like if they hadn't overfed their mixing desk? Leave perfection for prog rock twats to worry about.

Despite it's boy-will-be-boys recklessness, the EP has an undercurrent of sweetness and innocence. The sawtooth keyboard lines that weave in and out sound heart-warming – like one of those little keyboards you have when you're a kid. And if you sift through the mystery of the lyrics, there's a vulnerability in their uncertain perspective. Bad luck, losing touch with loved ones, and a sense of dizzying distance are recurrent themes that hover like unanswered questions.

Refreshingly, the songs hook defy instant gratification, after a couple of listen they'll stick in your head, but in a reluctant, comfortable kind of way. They aren't revolutionary but they aren't weary either. Chris is a singer who often returns to an idiosyncratic repertoire of melodic shapes, which is usually a bad thing. However, he pulls it off in the same kind of way that Elliot Smith does – it becomes a personal feature, a desirable mannerism that can be associated with him.

In the vein of much indie of today, Oui Legionnaires sound more akin to post-punk than the 60's/70's nostalgia of, say the strokes or the coral. However, despite the title track's Joy Division-like intro, I think it would be fair to assume that the influence comes more from indie post-punk nostalgia than post-punk itself – it sounds like 'Silent Alarm' by Bloc Party being jammed out by Tokyo Police Club. 'Foreign Seasons', in particular has more of a hint than Bloc Party's 'Helicopter' about it.

As is becoming increasingly common in this age of cheap technology, the EP was recorded and tweaked single handedly but the band in a practice studio. An effect of this trend is that the boundaries between musician band are producer are becoming blurred, which can mean the results aren't necessarily amateur – as in this case, the band are obviously able techniques. However, my one niggle, which I think is the trend's major fault – the set-up lacks an outside perspective – there’s no one to give them a kick in the arse when needed. This can lead, for example, to mistakes such as the less-than-perfect time keeping in the ram tapping intro to 'Old Friends, New Ideas', which an outside producer may well have ironed out.

However, whilst some bands can tend to over-embellish the production when left to their own devices, Oui Legionnaires keep their sound dry and modest. It's a dynamic, real sound – there are no overdubs, patching or unnecessary instrumentation to be heard. Whilst I am a firm believer that there is no special claim to trust in avoiding the option to embellish (having no effect becomes an effect in itself), there is an appeal in hearing a record that sounds like there playing it live, just for you.

Oui Legionnaires are still in their infancy as a band, so are likely to see some evolution in the future. Listening to 'Airships' I am impressed by the competent musicianship and convincing song writing, but feel that the delivery has some space for improvement. - MAG - Music @ Glos Magazine