"Lo-fi production is the order of the day from this eager new guitar band from North West London. Recording on a shoestring can produce mixed results, either an idiosyncratic charm or a general muffle of crap. Thankfully, this self titled EP from Missing White Women resides in the former category; the songs all have a live energy to them and a genuine reverb that for once isn’t created by amps, pedals or Pro-Tools.
Musically, MWW have a kind of scrappy, post punk feel that veers into introspective, almost post-rock intervals. At times, the band will hammer away at their instruments, accompanied by swirling distortion and screeching vocals, in other moments they drop into sombre and atmospheric breaks, sounding at these points not dissimilar to the hotly tipped XX.
Opener ‘Happy Me’ is a fantastic tune that’s full of angst, peaking in intensity between emotionally strained vocals in the quieter moments. There are clear Brit-Pop influences here, but this does not mean this track is any way lightweight. ‘On Repeat’ is more of a sprawling guitar mess that either by design, or by luck, sounds shoegazey; it has a punky shambolic charm to it similar to that of The Libertines.
The last two songs are a much more atmospheric than their predecessors. The real gem on this EP is ‘Cannot Recall’ - a superb narrative that the listener is lead through by fretful lead vocals and superb backing vox. The whole tune is delicate in its execution; a beautiful arrangement that outstrips closing number ‘Run to the Car’, despite being more than a little similar.
Listening to debuts offered up by unsigned bands can be a mixed affair, but MWW have got it right. On this EP they sound honest, raw and charming. Admittedly these four tracks are at times a little inconsistent in quality, yet this only serves to add to the charm. Its sounds like real grass roots music that exists because of passion, without the distraction of record labels or sickly sweet production. This is a clearly a band experimenting; they are exploring their sound and their limitations. Luckily enough for MWW, it turns out that they’re actually more competent at crafting mature and brooding songs than even they probably thought was possible."
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