Naming your band after a literary novel isn’t anything new. Wicklow five piece band Look To The Lady is also the title of a 1931 Margery Allingham crime novel and later an episode of ’80s BBC TV series ‘Campion’. However, Look To The Lady’s sound is a million miles away from detective shows and period dramas. Over the course of their debut EP ‘Mechanical Lights’ they try different rock styles with varying degrees of success.

Red Light District is a perky and lively slice of Americanised pop rock but its elongated outro could have been chopped as it adds nothing to the song. A lot of the energy on Red Light District is down to vocalist Kelly Bolger who has a big soulful voice.

Hypocrites Are In Bloom feels laboured with the verses not providing any sort of hook and Wishing Off Airplanes never takes flight. EP closer Lose It All stands out as the song where they come closest to realizing their potential. It’s a moody slowly building tune in the mould of Interpol, with Bolger more restrained than previous songs. This works as they create an anguish that lends the song real character and depth.

The ‘Mechanical Lights’ EP isn’t exactly a beacon of originality but that isn’t necessarily a problem. The singular issue with the EP is down to a lack of production flair which ends up making the sound quality seem rather like a rough demo.  In particular Lose It All is a decent song but it could have been even better if the vocals and instruments were recorded in a more interesting fashion rather than sounding bog standard. Look To The Lady also seem unsure where exactly their signature sound lies. Taking all that into account it’s still not a bad first foray for Look To The Lady and they’ve got something to build on.