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Harvey Half Devoured 'Candlewax Kids EP' self-release

If you buy only one demo this year… well done, that's more than most people will buy, if still not enough. You have to see this band gig as well, though. I mean, last time they were all dressed as dinner ladies! And three of the four dinner ladies are actually women, too, which is a good ratio. But how they play is what you should see.

Harvey have a fantastic tantrum of a rhythm section, all metal on your ass, and a guitarist who plays like he's castrating a horse. That noise is best showcased on 'Off Centre', raw as they come and none the worse for it, Bod's vocal like a shouting phone call at three in the morning. 'Backburner' is the most melodic song, but still with that intense sense of urgency, all something akin to the sad guitar-pop of Sebadoh or the Breeders. "Don't you think you've had enough to drink?" they coo before exploding. And I've not heard non-musician-girl harmonies this good since imagining what Kim Deal and Tanya Donnelly must have sounded like on 'Pod'.

A more basic version of their own quiet-fast approach, 'Hail Mary' slows and cranks back up like PJ Harvey struck down with a stammer and getting really pissed off about it; 'Casket' is warm and emotional with an echoey vocal sad as Cat Power when the record's over.

HHD have this perfect variety and tunes that are as catchy as, well, fuck. This is the sort of band I want to watch demolish festivals. And to think that the first time I saw them, I mistook this band for a side-project!

Go to www.harveyhalfdevoured.co.uk or write to Flat 5, 329 Beverley Road, Hull, HU5 1LD.