Deerhunter Fluorescent Grey

I'm still not quite sure why we didn't get round to reviewing Deerhunter's Cryptograms. The Atlanta quintet had most critics foaming at the mouth with excitement over their second full-length and rightfully so. Come December, it will almost certainly be hailed as one of the year's best. We'll most probably include in our own end of year list. See what I mean? It deserves at least a couple of hundred words of gushing praise on a site like this. Well, maybe it's not too late...

This EP, which takes its name from the opening track Fluorescent Grey, aims to offer latecomers to the Deerhunter party a cheaper (and less demanding) introduction to the band's work but ultimately it's a less thrilling ride than Cryptograms, which sees the band coasting in places.

The title track is certainly the best thing here, a wonderful slow burning gem set to an urgent rhythm track and adorned with chiming guitars, breathy backing vocals and, towards the climax, a haze of buzzing guitars, nestled low in the mix. This is Deerhunter jumping from gloomy 80's indie to shoegaze and then back again over the course of five minutes, and it's all the more exhilarating for it.

Dr Glass sounds like a lethargic and less interesting Pinback. Definitely one to skip. Like New is better, but at a little over two minutes, it's also unfulfilling. There are plenty of good ideas, not to mention a great guitar sound, but the band chooses to wrap it up early rather than kick back and explore these further.

The more urgent Wash Off provides the EP with a memorable finale but it's not quite special enough to make amends for Fluorescent Grey's obvious flaws. With two good tracks, one decent effort, and three minutes of filler my advice would be to skip this patchy EP and save your pennies for a copy of Cryptograms.