Album Review: Spawts – Clicks & Whistles

Wandering off into uncharted territory, SPAWTS release their newest EP, Clicks & Whistles, showcasing their new direction of melody, composition and instrumentation which seems to have worked a bloody charm.

If you’re into your garage indie rock with some post-punk thrown up in there, then this EP coming straight out of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland, New Zealand, is right up your alley. Get into it.

Clicks & Whistles starts you off with its first track Headroom, where the drums and bass have done some serious work with fueling the groove. With quite gentle guitar work, it’s picked up with a tasty rhythmic pulse, elevating the song to a tasty head bobbing level right up until the end where they go hard and open the song completely up.

Coming in for track two is Spit Shine which brings up the energy with a faster tempo and bouncy chorus that drops the 1 and slaps you in the face on the 2. The chorus nicely shows off a couple of their defining genres, garage rock and post-punk. And massive love on the tasty guitar trem through the verses!

The members of SPAWTS, Kieran Ormandy (vocals + guitar), Sam Austin (guitar), Jamie Hannah (drums) and Jake Love (bass) have such a great approach to their studio sound. There is no toe-stepping or over playing from anyone and you can hear and feel the thought that was put into all of the sections. Also, the in-house job of mixing and mastering from new member Sam would have given it some character in that aspect alone.

Moving on, Itch is next up in line with a lean towards grunge, sitting very nice in the center of this EP. Clicks & Whistles is based around self-sabotage, expired circumstances and broken friendships, and this track definitely shows these themes. With some dark lyrics, thick overdriven guitar in the chorus, I can’t help but catch a node of Soundgarden instrumentally and vocally in this track. Another good shout for the guitar work on the solo as well.

Exhibition is smooth and easy going. The arrangement is tidy, classic and to the point with some pretty damn catchy vocal melodies, especially in the bridge.

Nailing the conclusion of the EP is Wainui Street with a slow tempo and sultry mood that actually gives you the feeling of a sad resolution – great song choice to end on.

It seems they have a knack for opening up songs for the outro, which they do again in this last track. After taking you around the block with the melancholy energy, they give you a hard-hitting wave to ride out on and finish up the 5 song EP.

I really enjoyed this release and struggled to find anything I didn’t like about it. Looking forward to spinning this to some mates over a few beers and checking out some of their live shows!

Edwin Judd