Stagecoach – We Got Tazers! EP

With Favours For Sailors inexcusably calling it a day earlier this year, the fate of the London Pop Underground now arguably rests on the shoulders of Stagecoach. Frequently propping up the bill on matinee Saturdays at Notting Hill’s wonderful Arts Club ”“ where the entry is free and the obscure European beer is cheap and plentiful ”“ the group’s mandolin-drenched powerpop is hardly unique, but fosters the kind of carefree spirit sorely missed by far too many young pretenders. We Got Tazers! is the follow-up to the Skins-endorsed School Day EP and, manages to encapsulate the band’s exhilarating live set far better than its predecessor.It all kicks off with the title track, which starts with some hypnotic interplay of morse-code guitar and mandolin, before quickly blurring into one joyously popshaped whole. Meanwhile, ‘Ice Age’ proudly proclaims “I was always the best at being slack”, but manages to be anything but ”“ a propulsive rocker pitched somewhere between The Lemonheads and Death Cab For Cutie. With its ghostly e-bow and slinky bass riff, the Stealers Wheel-quoting ‘Hot Doggin’’ could probably pass for the most considered song here. That is, until its geeky middle-eight, which features some of the most endearingly crap pseudo-rapping since the last Weezer record, as vocalist Luke brags about “Cruisin’ down the street, kinda sweet, in [his] aviators.” Bless ‘im.Aside from the ill-advised dub remix of the title track which closes out the EP, the only real misstep here is ‘Break’ ”“ with a descending guitar riff nabbed straight from ‘Dear Prudence’ and backing vocals that veer worryingly near to Lost Prophets territory, it’s the only time the band flirt with the forgettable. All mistakes are forgiven with the greased up waltzer ‘Good Luck With Your 45’ ”“ the story of an embittered band, tired of watching all their peers finding success. “Too young for us to give up, or too late for us to care?” they ask, answering their own question in the song’s ecstatic (read: WOO!-and-HEY!-filled) chorus ”“ “One hook was all it took to turn you inside out.”We Got Tazers! definitely finds Stagecoach continuing to hone their songcraft down to a fine art, and managing to match the charm of bands like The Lemonheads, with none of the accompanying substance abuse. Yet, catchy as their songs already are, they still lack Evan Dando’s overwhelming onslaught of hooks, and the Surrey band’s hyper-Americanized world of hot dogs, checkers and quarterbacks occasionally rings hollow. That said, it’s rare that a band manages to a world that’s undeniably theirs this early in their career ”“ a world where every moment of euphoria seems to be punctuated by the word “Go!” and every problem can be solved with a trip to the bowling alley ”“ and it’s surely only a matter of time before this world catches up with them.Stagecoach on Myspace