EP Review
Ivan And The Wolves - Urban BonfiresIvan and the Wolves - Urban Bonfires

The London trio, Ivan and the Wolves, are a refreshing indie band that are reminiscent of high school garage session, only more mature and well, just better. They skilfully manage to avoid slipping into the boring indie pop rock trap by peppering their music with subtle nods to both vintage rock and modern classics. The retro influences of bands such as T-Rex and The Who mixed with the sounds of The Foo Fighters and Muse are clear but subtle. These musical sprinklings add the layers needed to keep their music fresh, making for indie pop vintage not so retro rock.

Ivan and the Wolves open their debut EP ‘Urban Bonfires’ with their own special brand of indie rock and the track ‘SOS’. Following ‘SOS’ is a torrent of similarly upbeat catchy rock tracks that will keep you interested from start till finish. Uncovering a new influential sound embedded in each track will engage you and keep you listening out for that telling twang in a riff, decisive baseline or certain beat from the drums.

Still keeping with their unique indie rock sound with the end track ‘Two Ways’ the Wolves manage to slip in a resonance echo of 70s British blues rock. Mixing it with their modern indie sound makes for memorable outro that will ensure this trio won’t slip from your mind once the EP ends.

With their blend of punchy riffs and catchy choruses Ivan and the Wolves will grab you by the teeth and shake you up and leave you wanting more. Their inoffensive edgy rock is a near certain radio hit. I expect to be hearing a lot more good things from these London boys in the near future.

3.5/5

Review by Nicci Peet
 Band Members

Nicko Varey
Jack D
Anders Christian
 Track Listing
1. Sos
2. Killing Time
3. Background Silhouette
4. Electric Dreams
5. Two Ways
 Band Related Links
Ivan And The Wolves Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?