Meanwood isn’t a wood (although it can sometimes be mean), but this suburb of Leeds is home, at least temporarily, to the Indigo Project, a five piece who aren’t letting the lack of a bijou postcode hamper any chances of upward mobility.
Despite the quintet only getting together last year, there’s an element of easy familiarity to this self titled release. The band – roll call being Joe Spink on vocals, Jack Manktelow on drums, Alex Crow on bass and Tony Francis and Oliver Barry on the geetars – are keepers of indie rock’s flame in the traditional sense, citing the Arctic Monkeys as and influence, possibly in the hope of heading off the comparisons before they’re made.
What the listener gets is four songs with tempos made for the back of the bus, pavement and bar; ‘As Always‘ is cut from that same languorous cloth Messrs Turner et al used to wear, its chugging riffs and bombastic drums wear like a crushed velvet smoking jacket. Where they score is in Spink’s smokey drawl, pipes that raise opener ‘Taste It‘s stakes, reclaiming it from a pile of what if’s and so what’s, a character trait that turns it into a more anthemic, direct, appealing, of the people thing.
The lads themselves describe their special sauce as “memorable melodies”, a phrase which could be interpreted as either new young funk or reminders of a blinder. Either way closer ‘Snake Bite‘ somewhat bends the mould, spilling the jelly on the floor and all over its nearly seven minutes, more taut and dark, think ‘Long Train Running‘ scratched out on top of the Kaisers ornate last album stuff. Last but not least, the splendid glam of ‘Wise Man‘ then pushes the boat further away from the archetype; a swaggering, hip-twirling thing with a dash of Bolan, sequins wall to wall and the promise of some visceral, unprovoked violence. Lovely.
There’s a lot to be said for Meanwood – even if they put a Waitrose there a few years back – but the lowdown dirty blues has never been a quality it’s been widely recognised for.
The Indigo Project are here to put that there, ones to watch, probably standing just on the corner by the Chinese and next to the bookies.