INTRODUCING: Twelve Point Buck

Twelve Point Buck have been making beautiful fuzz rock for a hot minute now, but 2015 has seen them develop into a fully-fledged four piece, putting out their first EP Boris this March.

It was a long wait (they had me drooling over their sad-girl shoegaze track ‘Twenty Two’ for almost a year in the interim), but Boris made me forget the delay entirely. The Blue Mountain outfit’s debut EP is essentially what would happen if Kim Deal and Billy Corgan were mashed into one person and that person’s mouth made melodic noise whenever it opened, like one of those perpetually-gaping clowns at a fair. In fact Twelve Point Buck’s music has that kind of lingering, ethereal air that would make it the perfect soundtrack for exploring dilapidated showgrounds.

Despite delighting in the melancholy of it all, I was pleasantly surprised at the EP’s sunny turn when ‘Callie’ popped up two tracks in. I can’t tell if it’s the song’s title or the bright, jangly guitar line and almost mindless repetition that makes me think of a Californian road trip. The off-kilter vocal arrangement creates the dynamic the song needs to stop it from melting into the sound wall that comes with gals-just-wanna-make-a-pop-song (and have fun) guitar pop. It’s also a necessary break from the spread of luscious distortion and droning vocals that fills the remainder of the EP. (You don’t want to spend ALL of your time wandering around a terrifying showground, do you?)

Head along to the Oxford Art Factory on May 30th for the EP release party.

Facebook / Bandcamp / Soundcloud