The Sheffield Scenester

Marsicans (fka The Scandals) are a 4-piece indie rock band from Leeds, and after gaining lots of admiration in their hometown, they are now expanding and beginning to play live to crowds in other cities, such as Knaresborough and the brilliant Sheffield.

The EP begins with quite a bouncy little tune called “What Could You.” The start of the track does kind of make me think of some of the old Milburn songs, which were really good. It is a very energetic sounding track and reminds me of a touch of bands like The Cribs and The Pigeon Detectives with the indie guitars and catchy vocals. The guys certainly do wear their influences on their sleeves and this track does seem very firm and polished, I must say, because it does sound like something which wouldn’t look out of place on the Radio 1 playlist. This is definitely something you would find yourself dancing to at one of their gigs.

Next up is “Clocktail,” which begins with an interesting fusion of sounds and a few “hey”s chucked in there for good measure. This, yet again, is another energetic and upbeat song which, I can tell, will probably be another crowd pleaser at their gigs. I can definitely hear likenesses to the Arctic Monkeys in this track with the strong Yorkshire accents and the heavy guitar riffs.

There is more of the same with the third track “Swings and Roundabouts” and a lot of “la la la’s” to get a crowd going. With influences aplenty, these guys are acquiring a strong following and should carry on doing what they are doing because they are really good at it. The only thing I would say is that I think they are possibly trying a little bit too hard to be like the Arctic Monkeys or the Pigeon Detectives and not putting their own unique styles to the tracks, which I think would make their music sound better and more unique to them rather than somebody else, but they are good and they make great music so it’s not really a problem, it’s just a suggestion.

The EP ends with “Imbroglio,” which is another great little indie tune, about teenagers on a night out. I can definitely see that this will be a great song to jump about like a crazed loon to at a gig, and to be honest, I think this is my favourite track of the EP. The good old shouty vocals and simple melody with a pretty cool guitar riff what you’d expect from a great indie band. Good stuff!

Words by Shirley Bell