I fucking love it when I get it right. So here it is- 8 months ago, one of my first reviews was this, by a band I've grown to love, that had a Record of the Week award from Radio 1, and above all, are a bunch of very lovely gents. Like Meursault, they are also from Edinburgh, oddly enough. Enjoy!

North Atlantic Oscillation

Callsigns EP

Kscope Records

www.kscopemusic.com/northatlanticoscillation

Rating: 4/5

Callsigns is NAO’s first release, showcasing tracks from their upcoming full-length. This being the case, the tracks on offer here show a degree of sophistication that has clearly come either through a great deal of hard work or a great deal of gigging. Whichever it may be, the bleepy psych-pop of opener ‘Cell Count’ is a treat for the ears, while the drum-driven ‘Ceiling Poem’ at its heights has a percussive energy equal to any of the most drum-heavy Secret Machines tracks.

Fans of the Beta Band will be at home with the vocal delivery, although the instrumentation of NAO is a great deal thicker on the ground. Cover ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ is, in the parlance, ‘lush’- this is to say several phased synths play around the vocal line with stereo trickery that spins the head. The unexpected highlight is the show-stealing Engineers remix of ‘77 Hours’, beat heavy and expertly layered with melodic synth lines. Definitely ones to watch.