There’s something about a band describing themselves as “the dirty Beatles” that’s such an immediate turn-off. Not only does it give less than no indication of what said band would actually sound like, but it’s setting up a stage that new bands especially will almost certainly fail to match up to. And yet, Brighton’s Fine Creatures saw it as a fitting description for their earlier years apparently, and now with debut EP Electric La La Land in tow, there’s at least a gauge for how prescient those claims are.
And to put it bluntly, they’re not at all. Quite how Fine Creatures’ fusion of garage-rock, grunge, ‘90s Britrock and bits of psychedelia is supposed to resemble The Beatles is a mystery, but at least such a spurious claim has given them the leverage to peddle their own sound that’s actually quite good in its own right. It’s actually a rather pleasant surprise that, among what is an ostensibly standard rock sound, Fine Creatures are able to strike something really quite entertaining.
And if you ignore that standardization and the lack of any huge nuance that comes with it – effectively the biggest issue that this EP has – Electric La La Land is fairly engaging. Money and Get Up feel a bit more spry and lively as far as modern hard rock is concerned, and the clear indie influence on a track like Birthday Cake and its lightweight, stop / start groove is something a bit more colourful and fluid. It’s a similar case with the production, being slightly blurred out for the touted psychedelic qualities that don’t make a huge difference, but are plentiful to notice and appreciate all the same.
That’s a good summation for Fine Creatures on the whole actually – nothing they’re doing at the minute is changing the world, but they’re still doing enough to stand out and leave a lasting impact, perhaps more so than many would have expected. Indeed, Electric La La Land is an incredibly solid debut, freshening up what could easily have been enough drab hard rock drag with little of note to it. This is much more enjoyable, and even if Fine Creatures aren’t changing the game with it, they warrant another look next time around.
7/10
For fans of: Royal Blood, Reigning Days, Dinosaur Pile-Up
Words by Luke Nuttall
‘Electric La La Land’ by Fine Creatures is released on 27th July on Symptom Records.
