Likeable EP from young Australians, for fans of Mumford And Sons, First Aid Kit and The Staves.
Little Quirks are a band of siblings and cousins hailing from New South Wales in Australia. Sisters Abbey and Mia Toole have playing music with their cousin Jaymi since they were children and releasing music since 2016. In 2019, they were joined by Jaymi’s older brother, Alex Toole on bass. The six track ‘Call To Unknowns’ is their fourth Extended Play (EP) record.
Opening song, ‘The Rain’ is an ode to Abbey’s love of storms. It’s a straightforward paean to wet weather, the song’s allusions to rain are not a metaphor. According to Abbey, “Whenever I wake up and it’s raining, it always makes me very happy. This song was written on a stormy night in my bedroom. I just imagined being out there running and dancing around in it and this song came out”. For the ‘Hey ya’ chants in the chorus the band roped in everybody in the studio, including the sound engineers and producer, to sing them.
Little Quirks certainly wear their influences on their collective sleeves. On the second song, ‘All My Friends Are Birds’, there are echoes of Mumford And Sons circa their first album, First Aid Kit and The Staves. ‘Florence’s Town’ is underpinned by a thudding bass drum, reminiscent of the Mumford’s ‘Cave’. It’s about people trying to escape to a magical place, fittingly the video has several references to The Wizard Of Oz. ‘Maybelle’ is another singalong song with a ‘Hey ya dey da’ chorus. It’s the story of a woman travelling from town to town sharing her stories.
Although the EP closes with the more downbeat ‘Underwater’, there’s an indisputable energy which shines through on all the songs. If you’re a fan of the harmonies of First Aid Kit and the music of Mumford And Sons, this record will be right up your street.
