Anxiety pop moments
Describing themselves as “an anxiety-pop band”, the 5-piece outfit of Flirting appear to draw cues from the brighter points of indie pop’s long and storied legacy.
The fuzzy guitarscapes of 2016’s ‘Wouldn’t You’ suggested hints of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Vocalist Poppy Waring’s laid-back lyrics gave the whole effort a dreamlike sheen, while the guitars of Arthur Davies Evitt and Andrew Potter rise like TV screen static walls.
Zip forward to 2018 and their latest outing ‘Peppermint’ offers a simpler, starker affair. The guitars are more restrained with more emphasis on the vocal elements. It’s a different dynamic, but still retains an energy – a breezy energy that’s also underscored with a vulnerability in the lyrics (“oh you better watch out behind because there are always people waiting for you to fall; for this world to swallow you whole”).
Recently, Flirting rocked up in a live setting as support for Japanese idol pop outfit Maison book girl (see our sister site J-Pop Go for the review). Despite the sometimes muddy sound mix, it suggested that the London-based band had a talent for composition and a beefy live sound.
‘Peppermint’ also heralds a forthcoming EP, which will showcase Flirting’s talent for guitar pop in a way that feels quite timely. Despite the strange directions (arguably) that indie rock found itself in a post-90s music scene, there’s been a renaissance of sorts in recent years for bands that have had the chops to restore our faith (The likes of Bruja and Wolf Alice spring immediately to mind).
Whether Flirting can pull off an EP’s worth of choice songs will prove itself in due course, but ‘Peppermint’ isn’t a bad place to start.
Peppermint is out now.
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