Is This How You Feel? is well-balanced, retro-tinged indie rock but most of all, it is really, really good fun.
Sydney five-piece The Preatures have an ever-growing fan base, a remix by Classixx and a Vanda & Young Songwriting prize under their belts – and thankfully Is This How You Feel? justifies the growing hype.
Following on from 2012’s Shaking Hands EP, The Preatures have pulled out all stops for their second EP, and while it’s all too easy to drag out a Fleetwood Mac comparison, the sound the band have honed here is a well polished pastiche of their influences. Dipping into classic rock sensibilities, dabs of shoe-shuffling ’60s and ’70s pop and a splash of blues, The Preatures might pay obvious homage to eras bygone but their sound is wrapped in a distinctly 2013-flavoured package.
Title track ‘Is This How You Feel?’ is pure, infectious pop that has tinges of retro boogie stamped all over it but manages to be arrestingly current at the same time. Good luck getting the chorus out of your head anytime soon.
Frontwoman Isabella Manfredi’s sultry vocals play off fellow vocalist Gideon Benson’s perfectly. Check out the stripped back slow jam ‘All My Love’ – you can practically see the raindrops spitting on the window and feel the heartbreak oozing into your chest. Sophomore single ‘Manic Baby’ may feature one of the more delectable guitar riffs you’re likely to sink your teeth into this year but closer ‘Dark Times’ comes up trumps. All sparkly, unashamedly upbeat ’70s pop rock, it seems The Preatures saved one of the best to close it all off with a shake of the hips and a cheeky guitar solo for good measure.
4/5 stars
BY MARISSA DEMETRIOU
Is This How You Feel is out now through Universal/Mercury Records.
