aaamusic | On 15, Nov 2011

Hotly tipped Scots The Xcerts have been on building up quite the proverbial head of steam recently, and they’ll be very pleased to hear that it continues with this stopgap E.P. The title track, familiar with those who bought their debut album “Scatterbrain” earlier this year, still rockets along fabulously like Dinosaur Jr. main man J Mascis fronting Biffy Clyro, but what’s really interesting for the Aberdeen trio’s hardcore fanbase is, astonishingly enough, the extra tracks. Ingeniously, the band decided to do away with the usual B side and pointless remixes that clog up the usual E.P’s of this ilk, and instead they’ve re-jigged select numbers from their back catalogue, and the result is excellent. Gum sets the tone for the rest of the record, trading in the tracks previous aggresive anthemics for a hushed, nearly acoustic reflective piece, showcasing singer Murray Macleod’s haunting vocals and the chemistry that the band share in an impeccable manner. If there was ever any doubt that The Xcerts were a lot more than the Biffy copyists that many would tag them with, then this E.P, and hopefully an album that showcases this side of them over some new material, would go some way towards silencing it. Maybe slightly to anorakish to be for everyone, but for fans, this is indispensable. Will Howard