The Sheffield Scenester

Retro Soup have come a long way on the Sheffield music scene, after meeting at a gig at the Leadmill and forming the band not long after in 2006. Their scuzzy electro sound is quite clever and unique....to say they started out as two complete strangers meeting in a bar, using old computers and various other machines to bash out snappy MP3s. There are touches of dancy prog rock and I love the synth effects on their older material...well, I like anything that mixes synth pop with guitars....so I think this 2-piece may be on my playlist in the foreseeable future.

Their new single, “John Locke” is very different from their earlier material. It begins with a pretty intense guitar riff and Joel’s throaty singing with the distortion effect which gives the impression of something from a horror movie soundtrack; anything with chainsaws, girls in white dresses running down stairs and locked doors with serial killers.

So, alls good then...there is still the electro sound in there with an almost punky feel and also, there is less synth in this track and more drums with a crazy psycho guitar sound evoking ideas of demonic possession. I really like the punk feel to the track with the crazy guitar sounds, and there is more from the drums and less of the synth in this track...although I’m told that the synth will be making a re-appearance later on in their next album. It sounds like it is a pretty energetic song and I can imagine a mosh pit forming to this at a gig.

So, from what I hear of this band, I expect great things in the future...and I have learnt to expect the unexpected.

Words by Shirley Bell