Featherstone trio The Sunbeams, with little prior fanfare, drop their eponymously titled EP upon the world. Sometimes appearing form nowhere can be the best way to launch your debut release, there is little to no preconceptions that may sway the listener one way or another before they listen to the songs. This can work for or against a band.

Luckily for The Sunbeams this should work in their favour. Lo-fi without using it as an excuse for not properly recording their songs, ‘The Sunbeam EP’ evokes the sounds of Pavement, The Young Knives and especially The Cribs. The Sunbeams are clearly in thrall of the Jarman brothers from The Cribs. Indeed this EP was recorded at Greenmount Studios in Leeds where The Cribs have recorded.

The formula which made The Cribs so popular, with sharp hooks, “messy to the point of almost collapsing apart” riffs and verging on shouty vocals are all present and accounted for here. It’s especially prominent on How To Start A Hurricane and Millstone. The latter gradually threatens to unravel but somehow keeps it together and its refrain of “you make a choice” will worm its way into your head.

Hit Me With It hints at the off-kilter angular style of The Young Knives during its intro before jumping of a cliff into a raw punk chorus. It’s simple, raucous and fun. The Secret follows the same template albeit with a jerky riff through the verses, but the chorus is missing a vocal or instrumental hook to really make an impact.

The Sunbeams have shown that they know how to construct a catchy tune. They could be unfairly dismissed as The Cribs copycats, but this is early days and with time on their side they can continue to forge their own path and identity so this becomes less of an issue. There are buckets of promise on ‘The Sunbeams EP’ and while they’ve manged to arrive under the radar at this point, there will be bigger expectations from them here on in.