Auction - Statues

In a post-Bloc Party world, the gauntlet for up and coming indie bands to create something of not only real innovation but also something people find genuinely enjoyable and danceable too. Because everyone loves a good dance.

Croydon band Auction may have landed on the secret. Simplicity. It seems almost counter to the matter... in an ever more competitive world, surely you'd want to throw as much musicality as possible into your big track to win the public over? The only trouble is that seemingly everyone else has thought of doing that, so to go against the grain and deliver something relatively simple, well, then it becomes you who stand out.

And this is what Auction land on with their delightfully instant single Statues. Equipped with the little synth touches that same for the par with bands these days, what really marks Statues out is how readily it leaps onto the dancefloor with its frantic frenzy of percussion and wall-of-sound guitars.

While other bands might seek to impress by smothering you in a web of increasingly obscure and intricate influences, Auction simply place their track and deliver it home with a well placed strike of the hammer.

There's also frontman Joseph Sigee's vocals, surprisingly soulful and possessed of a sweetness not often found amongst their contemporaries. And it's this twinned with the wonderful, almost oriental sounding instrumental middle-eight that wins me over to Statues - there's a real sense that Auction are striving to do something genuinely artistic with their music. In this instance, that definitely doesn't mean the dizzying soundscapes the likes of Radiohead have made a career out of.

Instead, Auction take to writing and recording their material in unusual places, namely the old auction house that inspired their band name. It's that simplicity striking again, something so simple as conceiving their music in these unique surroundings that imbues Statues with such vigour and charm.

Raw and unexpected, Statues is a prime lot to watch out for over the coming year, and Auction most definitely have our bid. And best of all, the track is available as a free download from the band's website - http://www.auctiontheband.com/