Although Leeds-based NIKOLI started life as a solo project of singer Tim Hann's in 2001, the band are now very much an integrated whole, if these two excellent tracks are anything to go by.
If you're a regular round here, you may not have heard us wax lyrical about Nikoli before, but will have heard us singing the praises of one of the band's other members, guitarist Spencer Bayles, who's also an integral member of Last Night's TV.
Well, he's reason aplenty to hold his head up high here too, as "Take It & Go" and "She Asks Me" are both impressive tunes that should be circulating much further afield. "Take It & Go" is especially memorable: initially windswept stuff with finely-turned harmonies, scrubbed acoustic guitars and distant droplets of piano. Very much in the Doves/ Unbelievable Truth vein, though by no means enslaved, it bursts into widesecreen, thinking man's pop and stays just the right side of bombast as it stretches out. Very good indeed.
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While not quite so immediate, "She Asks Me" again has enough going for it. This time, the harmonies are a little more fragrant and drifting in an addictive, Shack kinda way, but it's undeniably pretty, achingly melancholic stuff. Again, mid-way the band crash in and the expansive drama unfolds. Especially affecting is the way Tim sings "where's the thrill gone honey?" as though he's already peering over the ravine. Broliing and troubled it may be, but it's also rather glorious.
Nikoli, then: young men with older, wiser, extremely melodic heads on their shoulders. Definitely a band to watch out for and deserving of a larger platform. They already have three previous EPs under their belt, so check out www.nikoli.co.uk for more information.
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