Not many bands have a mind to combine excessive harmonies (not unlike those of the mostly-forgotten late 70s Sweet) with bounding, throttling riffage and totally infectious hooks. Is this a pop band, an indie wonder or the latest band to try and sound like David Bowie singing Black Sabbath songs over disco beats.

WOOZE The Magnificent Eleven EP (Young Poet Records)

Perhaps that is stretching the uniqueness of the sound a bit—but only just. WOOZE does manage to stay in the pop realms for the most part, and certainly Bowie is foremost on the minds of the duo behind this madness. Largely the musical restlessness of the one-time David Jones, but also the affected vocal delivery. By the time the third song rolls around (that one sounds like Human League in a roid rage), predicting what comes next has obviously become futile.

Apparently WOOZE is becoming something of a thing in its native U.K., and I can hear why. These songs are brilliant and brilliantly goofy. At once masterful and playful, it's clear that Jamie She and Theo Spark have learned the secret of tapping into pleasure receptors. These four songs are a glorious mess. A loud, expansive, wide-ranging, tightly-driven mess. Not everything makes sense, and this set is so much the better for that. Supremely addictive.

Jon Worley