- Artist
- The Little Ones
- Label
- Heavenly
- Release date
- 12 February 2007
- Genre
- Indie rock
It's not easy to find some sunshine at this time of year. Fortunately, music fans have been able to find some brightness thanks to joyful early 2007 releases from the likes of Klaxons and The Shins. Parting the clouds this February come recent Heavenly signings The Little Ones with a generous seven track EP of gorgeously sun-kissed guitar pop.
Hailing from LA, this five-piece of siblings and childhood friends can't seem to help but wear their West Coast origins all over their (short) sleeves. Sing Song is scorched through with joyous melodies, catchily classic riffs and more happy harmonies and handclaps than even the Beach Boys could knock out so early in their career.
Much like kindred spirits The Flaming Lips and Grandaddy, The Little Ones have that rare talent for combining yearning and heartache with a heart-warming joy within their songs - sometimes even within the smallest phrase or chord - and standout tracks Lovers Who Uncover and Cha Cha Cha encapsulate this ability - a skill that British bands never seem to be able to master.
Virgin Media recently caught this lot live during a storming support slot where their infectious tunes, and enormous smiles, won over the room within two songs and had the audience screaming for an encore. And while on this EP opener Let Them Ring The Bells and recent single Oh, MJ! may feel somewhat lightweight, in a live context, they are transformed into crescendo-ing, crowd-pleasing stomps.
Supports slots with The Magic Numbers await these boys and on the basis of this confident, life-affirming debut, which somehow never strays into twee, the headliners could be somewhat upstaged by their warm up act. Meanwhile, let Sing Song warm up your February and watch happily as The Little Ones actually become rather big.
