Ah, an EP with a story. This debut release from Manchester outfit Glass Ankle was largely conceived during their songwriters’ time doing a TEFL in Japan. That doesn’t mean that the tracks that follow are some kind of outsiders’ interpretation of what Japanese music sounds like, but instead, it’s lo-fi travellers tales. The press release comes with a glossary for the Japanese words.
On the whole it’s understated acoustic indie. It doesn’t break any grounds on originality, but it’s accomplished at what it does. The lyrics are original and the sound is inviting, cautiously optimistic. ‘Rules’ is the highlight, a mid-tempo tale about the living in a place with different cultural values to yours. It’s funny and self-effacing, and is neatly supported with some Japanese backing vocals. All three songs, though, shine in their simplicity and make you want to gather round for more of these stories at the same time. ‘The Gokiburu Song’ is misleadingly soothing – singing about living in a shithole, delivered like it’s romance. The truth only emerges in a spittle-heavy spoken word diatribe towards the end of the song. It’s a happy contrast.
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For anyone who has found themselves suddenly aware of being far away from home, there is something to take home in these three tracks. The style will be familiar to you, the content, however is not, and that places them ahead of the majority of the wealth of bands in the same genre.
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