Electric Soft Parade come Stateside

Electric Soft Parade
The Human Body EP
(East West)

Former Mercury Prize nominees Electric Soft Parade finally make their U.S. debut with this pounding EP.

Nominated alongside The Coral, The Streets, and eventual winner Ms. Dynamite in 2002, the band seemed to represent the newest branch of post-OK Computer U.K. rock. But instead of concentrating on the ethereal cooing of Coldplay and their ilk, ESP tried to integrate prog tendencies into conventional pop hooks. Continuing in that vein in preparations for their third album, Human Body alternately crushes and soars, whether on the interlocking “A Beating Heart” or winged closer “So Much Love.” Its intense core, “Everybody Wants,” hints at the band’s range, a dramatic string arrangement implicating their record collections in Doves, latter Pulp, and even Billy Corgan at his most indulgent.

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— Steve Forstneger

Click here to download “Cold World.”

Category: Spins, Weekly