13 Jun 2019 // A review by kongfooey
Soaked Oats are a quirky four headed indie beast hailing from the great southern city of Dunedin, a city that’s very well known for its plethora of fine alternative bands over the years, these guys carry on that tradition with their latest offering a 5 track EP called Sludge Pop.

Sludge Pop kicks off with opening track Shuggah Doom, I really dig the dreamy guitar tones and laid back vocal delivery on this tune, this one reminds me of the band Pavement, with cool and witty lyrics like “Well it’s no wonder there’s thunder but don’t forget your lighting crew, yes if there’s a film going on then be sure it’s not all about you” the outro picks up the pace and builds into a sweet sonic blast of musical bliss.

The next tune Coming Up starts out with rolling jangly guitars with an upbeat pop vibe and then morphs into more cool sonic terrain on the middle section, it’s a catchy piece of ear worm that would be a treat live I’m sure.

Driftworld is a very cool instrumental, it opens with a sludgy warped intro before bursting into an upbeat sweet groove that’s infused with twisted fuzzed out surf alt rock drenched in sonic overtones. The song is  definitely a winning combo and a bit of a departure in sound from the rest of the EP tracks, but as they say variety is the spice of life.

Fourth track My Mud Your Shoes brings the pace back down opening with a moody guitar line coupled with Oscar Mein’s eerie duel vocal delivery I can imagine Soaked Oats performing this tune at the Roadhouse bar in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks series, it's an alt country bluesy gem of a track, very cool indeed and a highlight on this EP.

Don’t Chew closes out this great EP on a fine note, this tune has swagger and grit. A slippery bass line rolls underneath a stripped back crisp drum beat, with understated guitars that slowly build throughout the track, Oscars vocal delivery purposely restrained in the verses open out into a dreamy vibrant chorus, subtle vocal effects add great atmosphere to the verses without overshadowing the delivery. The outro slowly builds up the atmospheric guitar layers before reaching it’s fuzzed out sonic conclusion.

It’s easy to see why these guys are rising stars in the local and international indie scene, they have worked hard at carving out a sound of their own from a variety of genres and influences, but using restraint and care with melodies and clever song writing hooks to make it their own. This EP is fantastic and well worth checking out, I look forward to hearing more.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ ( 5 / 5 )

Soaked Oats are a young four-piece band that percolated into existence in Dunedin. Catapulted by their infectious and joyful shows and fast-evolving songwriting chops, the band's profile and fanbase are on a steep rise. 2019 saw the release of their most accomplished work to date, the Sludge Pop EP. The band's single Coming Up was discovered by indie-rock icon Sharon Van Etten who shared to her 90 thousand plus fans, the band were signed to Australian label Dot Dash (Methyl Ethel, Gabriella Cohen) and invited to play UK’s tastemaker festival The Great Escape. Sell-out shows across NZ and Australia and the UK throughout 2019 have the band excited for what is to come as they begin work on their debut album proper.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Soaked Oats

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