http://stealingsheep.bandcamp.com/ / http://www.stealingsheep.co.uk/I did a short Introducing piece on Liverpool's Stealing Sheep as long ago as last November, that came as a big surprise to me as I thought it was much more recent... The girls have since released two EP's on 7" Vinyl, 'The Mountain Dogs' in February and more recently 'I Am The Rain' towards the back end of May, the latter is probably their best work to date (order links via bandcamp).
The four tracks offer an eclectic variety of sounds, opener "Noah's Days" starts with an ominous, haunting key-line and doom-laden drum punches which exhibit a dark, eerie atmosphere that hovers around the edge of much of the EP before it sweeps into a rousing finale of chanty choruses.
Next up is the psychedelic title track "I Am The Rain", it's simply joyous, built around a rhythmic drum beat and tambourine, it has a gorgeous swirling melody and the trademark Stealing Sheep three-way harmonies are simply beautiful, it's enchanting and far too brief at just two minutes in duration.
"Bats" is pretty bonkers, intricate guitar twangs play around eccentric vocal arrangements and hand claps, it's every but wonderful as insane. Though if that was hard to explain then the closing track "Secrets" is impossible, starting with a lush keys and delicate vocals before synth glitches and all sort of oddities occur, psychedelic breaks and a reprising of the title track. It's fun, well-crafted and most importantly quite brilliant.
The girls have certainly raised the bar with 'I Am The Rain', they continue to redefine their own sound, moving slightly away from the folkish charm of their debut with a melange of influences and stylings. Their gig-listing page has lots of gigs including a mainland Europe tour, most exciting for me are the Glastonbury date, one with Smoke Fairies at Barfly in August and this Sunday (19th June) where the girls headline a Sheltered event at Hoxton Bar & Grill.
I Am The Rain by Red Deer Club Recordings
Stealing Sheep - Mountain Dogs by Forte Distro
Noah's Days by Red Deer Club Recordings
Stealing Sheep - I Am The Rain from MCR Scenewipe on Vimeo.
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