Barry's Attic are a Birmingham based 4 piece who write music that is like... soooooo in right now. Yes this is 80's indebted indie-electro with the keyboards (which at times sound to my ears like cast off's from the old Sega Megadrive Sonic the Hedgehog games) turned up to eleven. The 3 songs on offer here all follow a similar pattern, mid-tempo, clipped disco beats and bass, with harsh keyboard riffs and barely audible vocals.

It's a bit of a shame the band didn't spend more time arranging these songs as melodically and lyrically they are actually pretty damn impressive recalling the organic flow of early Bloc Party before they became a bargain basement Nine Inch Nails.

'The Past Is Just That' in particular is a real gem with an infectious energy and inventive lyrics (probably the first song in history to rhyme 'tobasco' sauce with 'menopause'). The 2 songs that precede it ('Dislocation' and 'Synergy') have less going for them and on first listen come across as a little bland. There are some effective vocal harmonies though and both tracks display a relentless energy, they both need work though.

So it's promising stuff but a little under-thought, these songs could have really used a bit longer in gestation, maybe next time guys!