Ugly - Twice Around the Sun EP Review

Over thirty-six minutes, the band have produced an assertive EP that showcases an unrelenting charm.

Don’t let their young faces fool you, Ugly have been around for some time. Making their mark on venues like The Lexington and The Moth Club, as well as opening for BCNR and Lime Garden, it cannot be denied that they have the approval of their peers and respected figures within the industry. I managed to catch them at The Lexington which would be one of my favourite live gigs of the previous year. Energy, enthusiasm from the crowd and an absolute charming performance would solidify this band as an act to watch. What was performed live that night was unbeknownst to me to be the material of a forthcoming EP. Finally, the final versions of tracks that had time to linger in my mind without official versions outside of bootleg recordings would come into fruition. ‘Twice Around The Sun’ is the Cambridge sextet’s compilation of what I’d ascribe to as complex campfire songs that lean into the cataclysmic, resulting in 36 minutes of pleasing, satiating listening.

What better introduction to Ugly is there than with the track ‘The Wheel’, a mad house spectacle consisting of vocal cacophonies, arpeggios, a remarkable drumming performance and non sensical lyricism. Will I pretend to understand the meaning of the lyrics or an underlying narrative? No, but I had a good time trying to crack at it. Essentially written in style of a fable, the theatrics aided by the key changes, solidifies a seven-minute spiralling saga of constructed melodrama. 

‘Sha’ starts as the band at their most conventional, a Buddhist vow as their hook that sets them out into a descent into college rock territory and synth outro takes them back to quintessential Ugly. ‘Icy Windy Sky’ was a favourite from their live show, now presented with a finalised version that is built from vocal arounds detailing of twee encountering of poor weather. Finale in the forever building ‘I’m Happy You’re Here’.

Over thirty-six minutes, the band have produced an assertive EP that showcases an unrelenting charm and brings about a tenderness to oneself in company with the band’s absurd yet earnest tale, leaving room to be fervent for that all illustrious debut LP and further theatrics, surely.