9

One 'elle of an offering

Citing diverse influences such as Biggie Smalls, Radiohead, Sonic Youth and Danny Elfman soundtracks, you might expect Elle Milano to sound like either a complete sound clash of crazy noise or be a little pretentious in their delivery. Luckily, this Brighton based three piece are neither and have released one of the most impressive and exciting single and b-side combinations of the year so far.

‘Laughing All The Way To The Plank’ is an exuberant little gem of a single. With an intro which could double for ‘Songs for the Deaf’ era Queens of the Stone Age, all plinky plonky keys, loose bass and guttural urghs and ohs, it develops slowly into a wondrous, high octane crescendo which doubles the tempo and takes off skimming across near brilliance with its fraught sense of urgency.

Even the two b-sides are accomplished with ‘Chess Tragedy’ inching its way ahead as the greater of the pair but painfully and regretfully short - add another chorus and verse and there is an indie hit to be fleshed out from the bones of the discordant melee.

After securing performance at Club NME this is a band who are very much on the up and quite rightly so.