Hurrah! An EP with no remixes, no covers, no faffing about - just four original tracks showcasing what Whizz Kid are all about. This particular debut EP from Whizz Kid has been released by eclectic laid-back outfit Bearsuit Records, who put out consistently interesting releases from intriguing artists, none of which sound remotely similar, but all of which make music that evokes the same mood or feeling when you listen to it – a feeling I can only describe as uneasy calm.

Whizz Kid are one of Bearsuit’s electronic, sample-based duos, and all at once, their sound is old fashioned yet experimental. Remember the heyday of chillout, just before Ibiza-themed or ‘Balearic’ albums from Ministry of Sound and the like killed it forever? There was a scene in which Autechre and Aphex Twin reigned supreme, and for the first time in history, mathematical geeks of epic proportions could be openly cool, with their trippy rhythms and wonkily placed beats and bleeps. Whizz Kid aren’t quite as mathematical or wonky as these guys, but they hark back to that time in the 90s when making weird noises in a certain way was cool. Having said that, the nature of what Whizz Kid do means that they’re still experimental.

The opening track, ‘Summer Bubbles’ is quite generic stuff, which is surprising seeing as it features on the Bearsuit label sampler album ‘Captain Woof Woofs’ Guitar’, an album that I reviewed back in December and proclaimed to be more eclectic than Gillian McKeith’s fruit bowl, but I have a feeling that this track either appeared because it was seen as accessible or that it was the only one they had ready at the time. The second and title track is a bit darker, with growling vocals and suitably trippy drums, all decorated with off-kilter plinks and plonks.

The best tracks for me are the final two: ‘Some Kind Of Temporary’ and ‘Snow Burning’, the first of which is richer and more atmospheric than the others on the EP, with miserable string noises aplenty mixed with some good ol’ fashioned chunky beats.

The final track, and to a lesser extent all of Whizz Kid’s tracks, are a little bit disconcerting in a good way; it feels a lot like the first listen of DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing….’ album, which, after bemusing you with all sorts of moody highs and lows and weird tempos, ends with an unsettling voice sample from Twin Peaks. ‘Snow Burning’ has those growling vocals again but in this Twin Peaks otherworldly style, and, like DJ Shadow’s early stuff, Whizz Kid’s tracks all have something seductively foreboding about them.