By Ryan Smith

Fresh into your eardrums, Replicant Ears is proud to premiere the brand new single from Cambridge, U.K. indie pop band Tape Runs Out. The single is a beauty of a double A-side release featuring two of the band’s songs, “Friends” and “Flowers.” While an EP, Covered In Tape, was released in 2013, this is the first official release from the band’s current line-up (founder Liam Goodrum-Bell, Rich Barker, Yasmin Prebble, Ellie Winter, and Hélène Dufour).

The first of the single’s two tracks, “Friends,” teases space rock before plunging into a lovely pool of 1980s new wave. There is a lot to love on this track for fans of said decade. Deadpan male vocals are tempered by pleasing female backups, while ultra clean guitars are given room to charm atop a bouncy 80s pop rock rhythm. There is an ethereal layer behind the track that also appeals to the dream-pop fan in me.

Tape Runs Out.

The second, and longer of the two tracks, “Flowers,” begins with stunning electric piano and bizarre, effected sampling. A smooth, jazzy rhythm gently coasts in before giving way to a numbing vocal that beds an intriguing guitar melody, instead of the other way round. This lead continues to command the foreground for a time, until the last minute of play, at which time the track subtly changes before ending completely.

The single presents this line-up’s potential as both a pop group and an underground wonder. “Friends” is the outright pop number, adapting the band’s lush, spacey atmospheres into a format that appeals more to your average listener, while “Flowers” is clearly the more inaccessible yet stunningly atmospheric and progressively structured of the tunes. Both tracks are remarkably easy on the ears and are delightfully fit fare for anyone looking for an eighties-inflected cosmic drift.

You can purchase the single here.

RYAN SMITH spends a great deal of his time under troll bridges shaking his fist and hollering obscenities at the mainstream, but occasionally finds himself on the side of a pop act that the underground has disowned. A schizoid fan for the 21st century? Although he has a diverse musical taste that runs the gamut from black metal to country to most forms of jazz, Ryan’s first love will always be progressive music