Let Us Out

Staying in Montréal but with more of a healthy dose of post-punk and shoegazy wondrousness come noise-pop merchants Let us Out with their eponymous debut EP that is guaranteed to blow away the cobwebs from entre les oreilles...

Let Us Out formed back in 2013 when guitarist Pascal and bassist Kevin were introduced to one another by a mutual friend. Sharing a common love of effects pedals and guitar-fuelled punk, indie and alt-rock, the pair were searching for a singer to do justice to their songs when a local Montréal promotor recommended chanteuse Ursule. With the core of the line-up in-place (although the trio have just recently recruited a new drummer), the band locked themselves away in the City's Indica Studio, where - with Peter Edwards of Montréal progressive punk-rockers GrimSkunk behind the controls - the band's EP was hatched...

And what a riotous blast this is. Opening to fuzzy and echoed guitars, "Drunken eyes" recalls that heady era of late-Seventies / early-Eighties post-punk (when bands discovered that a basic mastery of four-chords didn't quite cut it) - there's a hint of Pauline Murray in Ursule's strident vocals as she surfs a maelstrom of sonic goodness. There's more of the same as "Poison ivy" assails the senses with a chugging riff, resonant bass and rhythmic percussion that creates a throwback punky backdrop for yet more energetic vocals. "Poison ivy" sees Ursule forcibly pushing back against a cowardly bully; "...And I’m worth a lot more than you think, I’m more than just a puppet on a string, One day maybe you’ll understand, All you have lost in the end..."  

"Thing I shouldn't say" adds a touch of Joy Division and early New Order attitude into the mix alongside a hint of transatlantic (i.e. this side of The Pond) indie-sensibilities that reminds me at times of Pixies / Breeders front-woman Kim Deal. The track may only last a couple of minutes but as Ursule wears her heart on her sleeve ("...Don’t know how to think straight oh when it comes to you... But this is worth the risk...") there's knockout riffs and hooks a plenty to suggest that here is a band that have far more about than a few post-punk power chords... A view which is reinforced by arguably the EP's most expansive track. "Voices" layers heavily reverbed shoegazy guitars on top of throbbing bass and percussion to create a warming and textural soundscape which bottles 30-odd years of guitar-fuelled indie-pop and alt-rock from in a little over four minutes. It's a song that is guaranteed to make you hit the repeat button.

Even though the EP clocks in at a little over ten minutes, this is more than enough time for the band to leave a lasting impression. While the band capture the spirit and energy - to these ears at least - of late-Seventies / early-Eighties UK post-punk (thanks in part to Ursule's distinctive and deceptively powerful vocals) their overall sound borrows from nearly every era since to create a thoroughly contemporary and well-rounded sound; one that suggests that not only are Let Us Out a blast live (yet another reason to visit Montréal), but that they should be around for the long-haul.

Let Us Out
"Let Us Out" (Bandcamp)