Californian twins Wyatt and Fletcher Shears, aka The Garden, have earned themselves the status as prodigious and experimental. Since the release of their 2013 20-minute long punk album The Life and Times of a Paperclip, the Shears twins have continued to evolve, adopting different styles with each release. U Want The Scoop? released 3rd March 2017 is no different in how it develops their sound.
Consisting of 5 tracks, the U Want The Scoop? EP takes inspiration from rave-style music, punk, and pop. Opening up with ‘Clay’, this is evident as there’s an almost drum ‘n’ bass slant to the track. Raging synthesisers and sound effects are at the forefront of ‘Clay’, and alongside the twins’ obscure vocals, the opener to this jaw-dropping EP is the definition of experimental. ‘Make Yer Mark’ follows on for a mad 2 minute long-neo punk frenzy; Wyatt and Fletcher bring in chant-worthy synthesisers alongside the dulled off-kilter bass tone that’s associated with the band.
‘Have A Good Day Sir’ takes a turn down the path of deadpan reactionary humour, as the topic of the track is the interaction between a speeding driver and the police in a full-on weird, rambling track. Accompanied by manic backing vocals and claustrophobic drum tracks and mashed together by slick vocals, ‘Have A Good Day Sir’ gives some inkling into just where The Garden are headed musically.
Next up, ‘All Access’ acts as a merger between the Californian Kings of Pretence, and dance music icons The Prodigy with sharp jittery electronica forming its basis and overruling energy from the duo. Edging even more into the experimental sphere, The Garden close off this EP with titular track U Want The Scoop?, an outright weird track dazzled in synth juts rounding off a surreal beginning to the year for the Shears twins.
Grab your copy of U Want The Scoop? here.
Words by Jasmin Robinson
