Bigger than a single, not quite an album, the EP can be a handy format for a period of transition.
So it proves for Randolph's Leap, as the band shift from their lo-fi origins on Glasgow's Olive Grove Records to a fuller sound as part of Fife's Fence Records.
There's real pep to Adam Ross's songwriting now that the band has expanded to an eight-piece including a small brass section – just listen to the trombone counterpart to his vocal on the chorus of Hermit, the lead track on the EP of the same name.
Track two, Mutiny, sets the whimsy of Ross's wordplay against a more robust bassline and an invigorated wall of distorted keyboards, while Zombie is twee-pop at its most literate and charmingly daft. I'm not sure that Jonnie Common's electro-disruptive remix of Hermit fits with Ross's singing style, however.
Another Scottish band primed for a bigger role in 2013 are Stirling's Miniature Dinosaurs. Their new EP, Turn It On (on Integrity Records), includes their strongest calling-card, Lemonade, which was released as a single just a couple of months ago, but, in all honesty, each of the four tracks here has enough muscle to claim its own airtime.
Just when you're starting to think Lemonade is some kind of Killers pastiche, your ears open to the quirkiness of the words and a backing-vocal yelp that gives the chorus a life-affirming kick in the pants. Same for Next Of Kin: Barry Mclean's vocal style appears to be sending up Brandon Flowers's swagger until you tune into the fact that he's just bringing his own flamboyant sense of fun to the party. This is a four-song manifesto for pop stardom.
The Body Mass Index EP by Cuddly Shark acts as a bridge between their self-titled debut album from 2009 and its follow-up, The Road To Ugly, due out in January on Glasgow label Armellodie.
Ruth Forsyth's bass – deeper and more rounded on this recording – joins Jason Sinclair's drums and Colin Reid's combined guitar and vocals in an all-out staccato attack on the senses.
The Man You Want reveal an unexpected skill for writing a lovely acoustic melody, but Cuddly Shark bite harder on the punky pop of Overpriced and the title track – short, sharp songs as spiky as a barefoot stroll through a field of thistles.
Alan Morrison
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