Mazes – A Thousand Heys

After a bunch of splits and cassette releases, London-based quartet Mazes clambered onto the old Lightship 96, moored on the banks of the Thames, to kick out some warm analogue sessions. The upshot: a full-length debut entitled A Thousand Heys, running just over thirty minutes. The raw spontaneity of the record might be likened to snatching one’s eyelids and squirting limejuice in the sockets.

A crude crayon title and the misshapen photograph of two warped urchins aptly bespeak the youthful delirium captured so succinctly on the LP, as Mazes spit out tracks scarcely longer than three minutes in length. With a punchy unadulterated sound more befitting the other side of the Atlantic, Mazes seem to suckle off Tom Petty’s teet, whilst Cooper’s vocals are distinctly redolent of Stephen Malkmus. Penultimate number, Death House, is of a noticeably more substantial nature, and suddenly a trashy record bursting with life is precipitating to a snappy close. Much to be cherished – well beyond the buoyancy of current touring partners Dum Dum Girls.