Faux Pas are possibly the hottest thing coming out of York right now. The teenage 4-piece have already performed at Leeds Festival, been featured on Radio 1, and now have a self-titled EP under their collective belts. We got a hold of a copy and gave it a listen ahead of its official launch on Thursday at Fibbers.

By Graeme Smith

From the first verse of One In Three, it’s apparent that frontman Reuben draws a lot of inspiration from the likes of The Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner or Placebo’s Brian Molko, and you would be forgiven for thinking that this is the latest release of one of those iconic indie bands. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because, as inspirations go, you could do a lot worse.

This isn’t just a carbon-copy though. There are definite things that set Faux Pas apart from their idols. There is a certain element of chaos to the way they play that would be fitting on a Nirvana track than within the realms British indie, like the bridge in I Hate Dancing.

And there’s certainly something to be said about just how accomplished Faux Pas are, further proof of York’s attitude to young musicians. They are just one of the great bands who have benefitted from the facilities and guidance of York’s branch of Access to Music at The Jam Factory, and it shows. Joey’s drums on I Hate Dancing, Morgan’s rambling bass on You Can Own Me or Lewis’s math-rock riffs on Downtime are all shining examples. The crescendo on I Hate Dancing to close the album is the definitive moment, the joy and effort thrown into this record is front and centre.

This is a very decent debut from the York band you’ll want to say you saw before they got big. Luckily, you can tomorrow evening at their EP launch at Fibbers.

Faux Pas EP by Faux Pas is available for pre-order on iTunes now. The official launch is at Fibbers on Thursday 22 December 2016