New Music – Cage Park | Ostrich – Breaking Glass Magazine

New releases – Cage Park | Ostrich

Cage Park – Holding On To Hand Me Downs EP

It’s official: Cage Park’s newest 6 song EP Holding On To Hand Me Downs scores their hat-trick of EPs, with a project that races through genre, creating a pulsing energy that makes each track fresh, but part of a full ‘Cage Park-y’ atmosphere that is better felt than described.

The EP begins with mind-melter Sofa Bed’, a track that pulls like an eager dog between a soft indie verse and a sonically brimming chorus, that almost revives the vitality of 2000s brit indie albums like Silent Alarm and especially I Had the Blues but I Shook Them Loose – tones that are ready to blaze eternally. Guitarist Leo Marks shines in the latter half, bringing that tense sound that always plays perfectly alongside each singers’ resonance. If looking to get a taste of the band’s potential, Sofa Bed will give you that, but I can’t promise you won’t want the full meal after hearing this three minutes.

We then jump right into MUD – part one of the two singles of this EP that fall into the distinction of three letter, one word, all caps anthems that bring a slice of British life in song form (think English Weather by FEET, but even more niche and weaving). Both MUD and BUS bring the gig audience into the headphones, with shout-along choruses that beg for a crowd to sing along. While the number 50 bus in Birmingham might not be a universally known phenomenon, BUS certainly pulls for anyone to sing as if they too were in the seats of our narrators.

One personal highlight of the EP is the distinct personalities of each singer. Not only are each given the chance to express their clear talent, but their styles give each voice purpose throughout. For vocalist Edie Mist, this comes in the brilliant Split Ends, which emphasises the rock of the band, building from Mist’s intimate storytelling (like the peculiar ‘you take off my make-up, you cut my split ends’) into an abrasive, increasingly dynamic fight of words (‘sorry, you’re not good enough for my friends’ being another entrancing piece of the puzzle of this song). This is backed superbly by the band’s quick-paced builds, especially with drummer Reuben Saunder’s control over the rhythm of the track. If words weren’t enough to express the feelings towards this track, the amount it’s taken to express those feelings probably gets you to understand the quality of Split Ends.

In Ninety-Nine, Arthur Belben gets his highlight, giving a stellar vocal performance that laments over the fears of the future, including £7.80/hour jobs and the dread of becoming a daily mail reader in his eighties – existentialism doesn’t even begin to cover it. Holding thematic similarities to Hand Me Downs, Ninety-Nine holds focus in the future, with lyrics that will be taking me weeks to emotionally decipher.

Ending strong in sorrow with previously covered track Hand Me Downs, Cage Park fulfil the promise of their singles, by creating an EP that rolls as a rollercoaster of emotion, never holding the brakes through joy, fear and gloom.

Cage Park

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Ostrich – Perfect Family

It’s hard to believe there’s anything cooler than Ostrich’s newest single, Perfect Family. The band weave round the idealisation of the title, creating a tune that creates a spookily funky atmosphere.

The tune is backed heavily by a heavy hitting bass line, one that kicks a strong rhythm right into the ears, aided by funky little musical additions from time to time. Singer Will Mctaggart weaves a Dick and Jane-esque tale of happy families – at least, until the chorus’ “They have chestnuts in their yard”; a strange display of perfection that opens the gate to the most ethereal elements of the band’s capabilities. Saxophones and synths keep the aforementioned funk flowing throughout, as the band maintain a pumping song whilst never feeling stale.

It’ll be a wonder to explore the worlds that Ostrich create in the future, as this Perfect Family seems to only further demonstrate their creative potential.