Houdini Dax: a band proving that there’s more coming out of Wales than just Tom Jones and messy, synth-heavy indie tunes like those of Los Campesinos. The Cardiff four-piece cite their main influence as the Beatles, but ask yourself, how often have we heard that from a band before hearing a stream of nonsense that’s labelled as their first album? Well, not this time. No, Houdini Dax genuinely have been influenced by the Fab Four, and for once, you can hear it in a way which doesn’t totally rip off the Liverpudlian legends on their “BBC Live Sessions” EP.

Opening track ‘Robin You Lie’ combines a heavy bass line and a catchy rhythm to blast through a song at a hectic pace. Along with the catchiness of the lyrics and the tune, there’s an almost Hendrix-like solo to boot as well, sounding raw and original. Houdini Dax don’t complicate things on this track, nor do they on any of the songs which follow and this is the key to a great bunch of tunes.

The second song on this four-track EP is entitled ‘Fizzy Moon’, and if the title isn’t sketchy enough for you, wait until the lyrics kick in. On top of a bouncy riff and Blur-like chorus, there’s speak of ‘fizzy hearts’ and ‘fizzy girls’, which let’s be honest, in the psychedelic manner in which it’s meant, could be absolutely anything.


The Beatles influence really comes into its own on the last two tracks, kicking off with ‘Mr Pascoe’. At first, the riff could come straight off a never before heard Beatles LP, but when you reach the chorus, the style changes somewhat, switching from guitar to focus more on keyboard sounds, not totally dissimilar to Blur again, and even being slightly reflective of Madness’ nutty-boy sound.

This leaves the final track ‘Struggling In The Sand’ to fill the rest of the Beatles shaped hole that remains, and boy, it doesn’t let you down. It sounds just like ‘Octopus’ Garden’ when lead singer Jack Butler sings the words in the title of the song and even has trademark Fab Four harmonies in the background. The song sounds quite endearing in its tune, a bit like Frank Turner or Jack Penate, reflecting the sweetness and innocence of the band’s tag line as shown on the back of the album sleeve: ‘You belong to Dax darling...’ To top it all off, there are even some "doo-wop’s" thrown in for good measure right at the end.

I’m more than impressed by this EP. Houdini Dax couldn’t be more retro and I love it. They’ve combined four decades worth of music in four tracks, and that’s a mean feat for anybody. With this kind of material, surely it can’t be long before Dax reach some kind of stardom more major than they already have.